


Waterloo (Couldn't Escape If I Wanted To)

by wittynametbd



Series: Gods, Heroes, and Losers [2]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Ben and Bev are here too, Canon never bothered me anyway, F/M, I'm just kidding it did and I'm still here writing this fic, In this house we acknowledge our trauma and work through it in healthy ways, M/M, so now we've got lots of feelings up in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-19 12:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20657258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wittynametbd/pseuds/wittynametbd
Summary: Sometimes she wound up being a goddess. Most of the time, she wound up being dead.One way or the other.Eddie could relate.ORWhen Ariadne offers Eddie, Richie, Bev, and Ben a trip to London, they take it.





	1. The History Book on the Shelf

**Author's Note:**

> This one will be updated a bit slower than the last, as I'm finally not skirting around my responsibilities and writing my book :P
> 
> BUT this is my fun project that's a reward for my book-progress, so it won't take 84 years to update, either, I promise!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Losers learn what's at stake

Eddie was about to fall off of the couch. He totally would’ve, if Richie’s arms hadn’t been wrapped firmly around him, holding him solidly in-place. 

The woman who ripped their door off of its hinges was none other than _Ariadne_. 

And she was sitting in _their living room_. Talking to _all of them_. 

Eddie barely registered anything she was saying. He’d just been brought back from the dead—thanks to Richie braving the Underworld, and Eurydice’s help. 

And Orpheus’s endless and oddly specific love of Cher’s ‘Believe,’ he supposed.

Eddie wasn’t quite sure what he contributed to his death-time-jail-break. To hear Richie tell the story, Eddie was the one who kept pushing him forward. Who gave Richie hope, even though Eddie knew he was breaking Richie’s heart over and over in the process. 

The whole time they were moving through the Underworld, Eddie wondered if he’d ever be enough. 

And then Richie told him he was, that he’d always been, and Eddie knew that, no matter how many times he fucked it up, Richie would always love him. 

That was _enough_ for Eddie. 

“Eds?” Richie asked, nudging him slightly. “The Scary Lady is asking you a question.”

Ariadne’s intense gray stare settled on Eddie. Richie tightened his grip, as if he knew that Eddie wanted nothing more than to melt off of the couch and into evaporate into the ether. 

“Ah, sorry,” Eddie said, nervously laughing. “I… I must’ve missed it.”

Ariadne narrowed her cold gray eyes. “Are you sure you’re the heroes who _finally_ managed to complete the Lord of the Underworld’s trial?”

Eddie tried to match her intensity. It wasn’t fair of her to question Richie’s badassery like that. He’d given up so much in order to bring Eddie back. “I was dead. Now I’m not. What do you think?”

A smile tugged at the corners of Ariadne’s mouth. “I think you’re going to need this, Edward Kaspbrak.” She opened the bag that sat at her feet, not bothering to look in it as she stuck her hand inside and produced a new passport. And Driver’s License. “I believe your old ones are still on the other side of this country. It might be a bit… inconvenient to get them back. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Eddie nodded, taking them from her. He was never setting foot in the state of New York again. 

Besides, hadn’t his old IDs expired when he died?

He didn’t ask the question aloud, but from the way Ariadne watched him, he knew that was _really_ why she’d created them for him. 

He’d already been impressed by the fact that she destroyed their door. But know he understood the truth of the matter: Ariadne had a plan for everything. 

Eddie remembered her story. How she’d helped Theseus navigate her father’s maze with nothing but string and a sword. And then Theseus killed her half-brother, the Minotaur, escaping with her. 

But, like most stories back then, hers didn’t end well. Depending on the source, she was abandoned by Theseus and killed by Artemis, abandoned by Theseus and married to Dionysus (either by choice or by force, no one could ever agree), or she was killed by Perseus after…being abandoned by Theseus. 

Sometimes she wound up being a goddess. Most of the time, she wound up being dead.

One way or the other. 

Eddie could relate. 

Eddie remembered how Richie had been _so ready_ to punch Orpheus… but Eddie would’ve loved to leave Ariadne and Theseus in a room alone. Something told him things would go a bit differently today.

Eddie would always put his money on Ariadne. 

And then, once Ariadne was done with Theseus, Eddie would _also_ love to take a swing at that asshole. 

Some fucking hero. Ariadne saved his ass in that maze and the he just dumped her as soon as she wasn’t useful anymore. 

Richie shifted behind him, putting his hand in the air. “Hey, Scary Lady?”

The Immortal in their living room rolled her eyes. “We’ve been over this. Ten times. My name is Ariadne.”

“Scary Lady’s way more fitting,” Richie said. Eddie elbowed him hard for that one. Richie winced, but kept going. “Anyway, uhhhh… _why_ did you just give Eddie a passport? Is he going somewhere? ‘Cause wherever he goes, I go.”

Eddie loved Richie with all his heart. But after this they _really_ needed to talk about how to speak to immortal beings. 

Ariadne sighed, closing her eyes as she massaged her temples. 

_Did gods get headaches?_ Eddie wondered. _Was she a god? Or was she more like Orpheus and Eurydice? Mortals who became immortal, somehow?_

“I thought it was evident from the beginning,” Ariadne said, turning to Bev and Ben instead. Maybe she hoped they were the reasonable ones. But they hadn’t said anything since she’d ripped the front door out of its frame. “You’re _all_ going somewhere. London, to be precise.”

“That’s where he is?” Bev asked, as her semi-shocked, semi-glazed expression morphed into stone-cold resolution. “Your father?”

Eddie almost fell out of Richie’s grasp that time. He _seriously_ needed to do a better job at listening. 

“Minos, yes,” Ariadne said, anger flaring in her words. “Fourteen children went missing in one day. Seven boys, seven girls. British authorities think it’s the work of a serial killer. Or a serial kidnapper. But it’s my father.”

Eddie’s heart sank. He should’ve seen this coming, but he’d been too distracted by Ariadne. He hadn’t even considered _why_ she might need their help. 

Fourteen missing kids. Not nearly as many as Derry collected over the years, but Eddie knew that even _one_ missing kid was way too many. 

“How much time do we have?” Eddie asked. 

Ariadne frowned. “Not a lot, I’m afraid. I got word this morning and found you as quickly as I could, after I made a few arrangements.”

“Arrangements?”

She pulled a second, smaller bag out of her own. “You will have a place to stay in London. And money. Everything you need is in here.”  
Eddie’s thoughts raced to make sense of what was happening. They were going to London. To rescue kids. From King Minos.

The same King Minos who had a famous (and deadly) labyrinth. 

And a famous (and deadly) minotaur… who also happened to be Ariadne’s half-brother. 

“Does London have a maze big enough for that?” Eddie asked, hoping they hadn’t covered that while he was zoning out. 

“The Hampton Court Maze,” Ben said. It’d been the first thing he contributed to the conversation, and he blushed when everyone’s attention turned to him. 

“Ohhh, sounds fancy,” Richie said, shifting his weight a little. “And a little stuffy.” He cleared his throat, putting on an awful British accent as he said, “Pardon me, guv’nah, couldst thou point the way to the Haaaaaaaaahmpton Court?”

Ariadne looked as if Zeus had just manifested in their living room and mooned all of them. “What…was…that…”

Bev grimaced. “He does voices, sometimes.”

“There’s no way to stop it,” Ben added.

“Just gotta go with the flow, Scary Lady,” Richie said, enjoying this way too much. 

Eddie groaned. “Anyway, the maze—”

“It’s over three-hundred years old,” Ben replied, not hesitating to jump on Eddie’s plea to get back to the task at hand. “It’s on the grounds of the Hampton Court Palace.”

“Ah, a palace!” Richie said, nudging Eddie. “Hey, Eds, don’t ever say I didn’t take you anywhere nice.”

“Technically, Ariadne’s taking me there,” Eddie replied. 

“Oh, sure, _now_ you become detail-oriented.”

Eddie was going to say that he’d _always_ been the better one with details, but Ariadne looked like she might have a migraine setting in. 

“Uh… Ariadne? Can I ask you a question?”

She sighed. “As long as it’s relevant.”

“You said that we changed things,” Eddie said, remembering her speech after she broke their door. “Is that why Minos is back now? Was it… was it something _we_ did?” Eddie asked, dreading the answer. 

He’d thought only good things could come from Richie beating the odds, like finally reuniting Orpheus and Eurydice. Or the life that Eddie and Richie were able to live together. But if this was their fault, somehow…

He wanted to scream. Was this another part of the deal that Hades kept from both of them?

Eddie’s heart sank as Ariadne nodded. “Our worlds have always been precariously balanced next to each other,” she replied, her gaze drifting from Eddie to Richie. “Richard Tozier, _you_ tipped the scales when you freed Edward from the Underworld.” Ariadne frowned. “And then, as they tend to do, the scales tipped back. Monsters like my father… they found a way out.”

She paused, meeting Eddie’s gaze once again. “They figured if a pair of mortals could defy the Lord of the Underworld then they could, as well.”

Eddie thought he was going to throw up. _His fault_. This was all his fault. 

Behind him, Richie scoffed. “We’re supposed to believe Hades just _let_ this happen? He controlled everything when we were there.”

Ariadne huffed. “Hades didn’t let it happen. He was overwhelmed by how many of them…” her voice trailed away. “The monsters escaped. And people like me—the ones who defeated them in life—we were set free. Some of us are already fighting, but I… I can’t go to London. My father knows my tricks. How I think. If he suspects that I’m there, he’ll vanish. And the children in that maze…well. They won’t last long against my brother if Minos isn’t there to draw the festivities out for as long as possible.”

“Is Hades okay?” Eddie asked, hating how worried he sounded. Hades was a bit dramatic, sure, but he _did_ honor his deal. Eddie was alive because Hades had been true to his word all along. 

The corners of Ariadne’s mouth pulled into a small smile. “It’ll take more than a mutiny to destroy the Lord of the Underworld. He’s not your concern right now. Besides,” she said, playfulness creeping into her expression for the first time, “You’ve met Persephone. The monsters have more to fear from her retribution than they do his.”

Ariadne cleared her throat. “Now, when you get to my father’s labyrinth, you need to know that the maze will appear normal to other mortals. But the missing children—and my brother—are there.” She paused, digging three small vials out of her bag. “This will help you see things for what they truly are.”

“There’s only three,” Ben said. 

“And four of us,” Bev added. 

Ariadne’s gaze drifted to Eddie—as did everyone else’s. His face warmed, flushed from embarrassment. He wanted nothing more than to sink into the couch so that no one but Richie could ever look at him again. “Edward doesn’t need anything. There’ve been certain… _side effects_ from your return to the Land of the Living. Haven’t there, Edward Kaspbrak?”

“Eds?” Richie asked. “What’s she talking about?”

“I… I didn’t want to worry you…” Eddie’s voice trailed away. This wasn’t how he wanted to tell Richie. But Ariadne was right. Ever since he got back, something had always just seemed the slightest bit _off_. 

Eddie sighed. “Sometimes I just get this feeling. Like I’ve dropped something in-between the couch and the wall and am trying to reach down to get it, but my hand gets caught. And I really, really need to get it, because it’s super important, but it’s just out of reach and If I can just push the couch forward a bit—”

Ariadne leaned over, placing her hand on Eddie’s forehead. Just like Eurydice, warmth spread through his body at her touch. 

Eddie gasped. He was still in their living room, and Ariadne was still in front of him. But there was something else around her. A silhouette of a woman who looked just like her, but the intensity in her eyes was gone. They were kind. Sad. 

And looking right at him. 

Her hairstyle was different, too. This new version didn’t wear a braid held together with golden thread. This shade’s dark hair hung down, long enough to fall past her fingertips. In her hands, she held a sword and a ball of string. 

“Eds?” Richie said, shaking him. Eddie could barely hear his voice. It was so close, but so far away. 

And then Ariadne withdrew her hand and the world was pushed far away before it slammed sharply back into focus. 

“What’d you do to him?!?” Richie screamed, panic and threat bleeding through in his voice. 

Ariadne shrugged. “I pushed the couch forward.”

Her shade was still staring intently at Eddie. 

“I’m fine,” Eddie said. “But, uh… word to the wise. It’s gonna get real weird after you drink the stuff in that vial.”

Ariadne—both of them—held her hand up. “Don’t drink it now. Not until you’re in the maze. The effects only last for twelve hours at a time.”

“But Eddie will always be able to see… whatever he’s seeing?” Richie asked.

Ariadne nodded. “What you did was unprecedented. And, as such, there are still things we’re discovering.”

Eddie felt like he was going to throw up. “But I’m… I’m alive, right? That was the deal—”

Ariadne cut him off before he could spiral down. “You’re alive. But… improved slightly.”

Richie’s grip tightened around Eddie. “He was already perfect.”

“Maybe so,” Ariadne said, giving Richie a small nod. “But he is not a normal mortal anymore. He has the ability to see all of us for who we are.” As she said this, Ariadne’s shade winked at him. “His ability will be a great asset for you.”

“You hear that, Eds? You’ve got a great ass—”

Eddie blushed as Ariadne rolled her eyes. “Uh, Rich, time and a place.”

“Oh, come on, I just found out my freshly not-dead boyfriend has a superhero mode. This is so fucking cool!” 

Ariadne turned to Bev and Ben. “Does he _ever_ stop talking?”

“Hey!” Richie said. 

Eddie’s friends exchanged a glance and then started laughing so hard they almost fell off their couch.

Ariadne frowned. “That wasn’t a joke. It was a serious question.”

“If you can figure it out, we’d love to know,” Bev said, smirking at Eddie. 

Ariadne let out a string of curses in a language Eddie didn’t recognize. Then, she sighed, standing. “Your flight leaves in the morning.”

_Too soon_, Eddie thought. _And also not soon enough_. 

Richie’s hand flew into the air faster than Eddie could stop him. “Hey, Scary Lady? While a surprise vacay to London sounds _super awesome_, we can’t just leave Cerebus alone. That’s not enough time to get a dog sitter.”

Ariadne blinked, her mouth hanging open for a moment before she said, “Fourteen children are missing.”

“And Cerebus needs to be walked three times a day. You can refill his dry food when it gets low—he grazes, it’s chill. And his treats are in the top cupboard on the left.”

“You… you want me to watch your dog?”

“You said you wouldn’t be able to go to London,” Richie replied. “So, yeah. You can even stay here if you want.”

“I—” Ariadne closed her eyes, cutting herself off before she could protest. “Fine. I’ll watch the dog.”

“Great!” Richie said, sitting up and almost knocking Eddie off of the couch. “Ah, sorry! Eds, can you grab my phone?”

Eddie nodded, leaning over to grab it while Richie held onto him. 

“Can I get your number?” Richie asked. “I’d like to request a new dog video every few hours.”

“_Fourteen children are missing_,” she repeated, as if that would do anything to change Richie’s mind. 

“Dog videos or no deal,” Richie said. 

“…fine. Three a day.”

“Deal!”

Ariadne’s shade was barely holding back a fit of laughter while her counterpart looked like a vein was about to pop in her forehead. She shook her head, moving to the door.

That was no longer on its hinges, thanks to her. 

“Leave a key under the mat,” she said. “And good luck.”

“Wait, I don’t have your number!” Richie yelled after her before she disappeared around a corner. 

“I have yours,” she called back. And then the elevator dinged. 

She was gone. 

“Do you think she really has my number?” Richie asked. 

Eddie groaned, putting his head in his hands. Richie was such an idiot.

But Richie was _his_ idiot. 

“Yeah, Rich,” Ben said, chuckling. “If she doesn’t, something tells me she’ll figure it out.”

Eddie sighed, looking at Ben and Bev. “I hope you didn’t have anything urgent to get to in the next few days.”

Bev reached across the table, placing her hand on top of Eddie’s. “We have as much time as we need.”

“Did this happen with the others?” Ben asked. “When Bill and Mike were here. Do you both get… _visitors_ often?” he waved his hand in the direction of their broken door. 

“Nope,” Richie replied. “Must be something special about the two of you.”

Bev squeezed Eddie’s hand, catching his gaze before she let go. She knew what it was, just as well as he did. 

Ariadne’s father was the problem. King Minos was manipulative. Controlling. 

Eddie and Bev knew what that was like. 

Richie whistled. “Well, she was intense.”

“I would be too, if I was her,” Eddie replied. “Things didn’t really go her way back then.”

“I hope they do this time,” Bev said, wistfully. 

Eddie nodded, though his nerves were wound so tight that he was worried he’d start running laps around their home soon. “So, uh… anyone know how to fight a minotaur?”

“No fucking clue, Eds,” Richie said, ruffling his hair. “But you’re magic now, so if we get into any trouble you can save us.”

Eddie smiled, but he didn’t feel anywhere as confident as Richie sounded. He knew that Ariadne couldn’t come with them to London. 

But he wished she would. Something told him they’d need all the help they could get.


	2. Is Always Repeating Itself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Richie becomes a goddamn adult

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I won't update this for a while
> 
> Also me: Well, it's a slow day at work I guess it's time to write fanfic
> 
> So, uh, here we go...

_This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. _

_Jen held her best friend’s hand as they raced through the maze, pushing away the screams from the other kids. Thankfully, they’d slowed down since the beginning. She wasn’t sure how long they’d been running, but she knew one thing: this was not how she was going to die. _

_“Jen, I think I need a break,” Laura said, her voice wavering. _

_Jen didn’t want to stop. She knew it was better for them if they kept moving. _

_But she wasn’t going to leave Laura alone. _

_Jen slowed down, looking back at her best friend. “We’ll rest.” Her heart sank. She didn’t know Laura had been crying, but her eyes were red and puffy, tears still streaking down her cheeks. _

_Jen pulled Laura close, running a hand through her hair. “Shhhhh,” she said, trying to sound calm even though her heart was running a marathon in her chest. “We’re gonna be okay.”_

_They stayed like that for a long time. Jen wanted to keep moving, but she also didn’t want to break away. _

_Finally, Laura sniffled and said, “Are you sure?”_

_“Yes,” Jen replied, without hesitation. “We’ll find a way out of this. Together.”_

_She hoped she was right._

***********

The Scary Lady sent the first video of Cerebus before they’d left the country. 

Richie smiled, bleary-eyed at 6 in the morning, as they waited to board the plane. Eddie was asleep, leaning his head on Richie’s shoulder and snoring softly in his ear. 

Bev and Ben were off getting everyone coffee, so that left Richie sitting there with his adorable, passed out boyfriend and everyone’s carry-on bags. 

Eddie twitched a little, squeezing Richie’s hand tighter. Richie squeezed back because he knew, by now, that there was very little on this earth that could wake Eddie Kaspbrak from his beauty sleep. That’s why he had Ariadne’s dog video on full blast. It didn’t matter that the other people who were slowly drifting toward their gate didn’t seem excited about hearing Cerebus’s small _yips_ as Ariadne gave him treats. 

He was a proud Dog Dad and he wanted the world to know. 

“Do you think she sleeps?” Ben asked, nearly startling Richie out of his chair. 

“What the fuck, man?” Richie asked, nodding over to Eddie. “Don’t wake him up!”

Ben’s eyes widened for a second, and then they narrowed when he saw Richie smirking. “He’s a heavy sleeper, isn’t he?”

“Ever since he got back. Maybe it’s another one of those side-effects.” Richie hadn’t talked to Eddie yet about what happened earlier. How Eddie felt like something was wrong, but Richie had no idea. They’d had so many serious conversations in the Underworld. And a lot after. 

He wished he knew why Eddie kept it from him. 

But they had to pack, and Eddie had already been a little too quiet before they drove to LAX. Richie didn’t want to push him. But he also wanted to help. 

“Something wrong, Rich?” Ben asked. “Feeling nauseous? Hungry? Bev’s still wandering around—she wanted to stretch her legs before the flight. I can ask her to grab you something if you need it?”

Richie looked up at his friend, smiling. “Nah, I’m fine for now. And I don’t think Ariadne sleeps, for the record. Mortal rules need not apply.”

Ben took a sip of his coffee. “This doesn’t weird you out at all?”

Richie shrugged, nudging Eddie’s head a little. “To be fair, I _did_ just drag this one out of the Underworld, so… yeah. It’s a little weird, but not the strangest thing I’ve done this year.” He paused, finally noticing that Ben was holding two coffees. “Actually, I do need something. Wanna caffeine me up, Haystack?”

Ben tried to hand the cup to him, but Richie waved him away. “No can do. I’ve got my phone in one hand and am never letting go of Spaghetti, here, so you’re gonna have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

Ben groaned, rolling his eyes as he tipped the coffee cup into Richie’s mouth. 

Richie hadn’t really needed the coffee. But he saw his opportunity to embarrass Ben in public, and he took it. 

A few of the other people at their gate looked the same way Ariadne had when Richie used his _awesome_ British accent. He winked at them. “What can I say? I’ve trained him well!”

Ben’s face turned red as the onlookers decided to on-look in other directions. 

“You’re a real friend, Haystack.”

“You trying to steal my husband, Rich?” Bev said, a hint of mischief in her voice. “In front of all these people, too? Have you no shame?”

Richie did his best to look like he’d been caught. “I tried my best, but sadly all I could do was get a little bit of coffee out of a cup. I think you’ve got a keeper, ma’am.”

Bev kissed Ben on his cheek. If he was blushing before, he was an absolute lobster now. “Oh, I know,” she said. “Soulmate still asleep?” she asked, nodding over to Eddie. 

“Earthquakes couldn’t tear him from his slumber,” Richie replied. “Believe me, they’ve tried.”

Ben checked his watch. “We’ve still got a lot of time before we board. Might do you both some good to walk around for a bit. Bev and I can watch the luggage.”

Richie wondered if they knew that he wanted to talk to Eddie alone. They probably did. Bev had always been spot-on at guessing Richie’s moods. And Ben wasn’t an idiot; he’d been sitting there when Eddie revealed that he’d been holding something back from Richie. 

He was grateful that they had amazing, supportive friends in their lives. Friends who would drop everything and fly to London because a terrifying almost-goddess crashed their party and ordered them to do it. 

Richie was glad that Bev and Ben were with them for this one. But he also wondered how Ariadne had known they’d be there visiting. 

The Scary Lady arrived at their apartment with three vials of that trippy-ass liquid. She was prepared.

Something told Richie she was _always_ prepared. 

Did the Immortals all have some kind of secret network, somehow? Ariadne said that they shared a mutual friend. Was it Orpheus? Had that bastard gotten them into even _more_ shit?

And how come no one told him that by freeing Eddie, there was _also_ the possibility that everyone else in the Underworld might take that as a sign to break out? 

Richie would’ve gone on the walk regardless. He wasn’t leaving Eddie alone ever again. 

But, _damn_, it would’ve been nice to know that there were a few more consequences to his actions. 

Now he had to clean up a mess he didn’t even know he made. 

Fourteen kids were missing, and it was his fault. 

Eddie’s snoring stopped. “No!” he screamed, falling out of his chair. He would’ve crashed into the ground if Richie hadn’t yanked him back. 

“Hey, man,” Richie said, softly, running a hand through Eddie’s hair. “It’s all right. Everything’s fine.”

“Wh-what? Richie? Where… I wasn’t… oh, no…” Eddie looked around, squinting until his eyes adjusted from the light. 

“Yeah, Eds. I’m here.”

Eddie’s eyes were filling with tears. “Rich…”

“Hey, hey,” Richie said, stroking Eddie’s cheek. “Let’s go for a walk. Bev and Ben are gonna watch the stuff for a while.”

“Okay. Okay.”

Richie helped Eddie up, making worried eye contact with Bev when he noticed that Eddie was shaking. “Maybe a walk isn’t a good idea—” he’d started to say, but Eddie cut him off. 

“I’m fine, dumbass. I can walk.”

“Okay, Eds. You’re the boss.” Richie turned to Bev and Ben. “We’ll be back soon.”

“Take your time,” Bev said. Ben smiled.

“Thanks, Losers,” Richie said, squeezing Eddie’s hands as they walked away. He waited until they weren’t near anyone else and then leaned into his best friend lightly as they walked. “Eds, you’re… you’re kinda freaking me out right now. What’s wrong?”

Eddie’s voice shook. “I saw some of the kids in that maze, Rich. They’re so scared.”

Richie stopped, turning Eddie so that he could look in his eyes. _He could see those kids. How could he see those kids?_ Richie had a million questions, and almost called Ariadne on the spot to start yelling. He was _so done_ with all of these Immortals withholding information. 

A warning that Eddie might be dreaming about kids getting killed by a minotaur would’ve been fucking nice. 

Eddie sniffled as tears finally started to break free from his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my feeling earlier, Rich. I… I didn’t want you to worry.”

_Too late for that_, Richie thought. He was fucking worried. And angry at everyone and everything on Eddie’s behalf. He’d been through _enough_ and now here he was, having death dreams and crying in the middle of LAX. 

Richie hoped Hades was being _heavily inconvenienced_ as he tried to stabilize the Underworld. It was only fair. 

“Richie?” Eddie asked. “You’re going all quiet on me up there.”

Richie pulled his best friend into a hug. “Don’t worry about me worrying, okay? That kind of happens anyway, when you love someone.” He held him tighter. “You’ve gotta tell me about this stuff, Eds. I just wanna be there for you. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Eddie nodded, burying his face in Richie’s neck.

They stood like that long enough to hear an entire flight’s boarding process. 

Finally, Eddie broke free, determination set in his puffy red eyes. “We’re gonna save all of them, Rich. We have to.”

Richie smiled, ruffling Eddie’s hair. “Of course we will, Spaghetti. We can’t lose, now that you’ve got supersight and some really funky dreams.”

Eddie sighed. “What if I fall asleep on the flight and I see… what if someone dies before…”

“You can’t help what you can’t control, Eds. Whatever happens before we get there… it’s not your fault.”

“It _is_. This is happening because of me.”

“No, it’s happening because of me. I’m the one who dragged your ass out of the Underworld.”

“I’m the one who died,” Eddie said, tears filling his eyes again. “If I’d just held on the first time—if I lived—”

“No,” Richie said, putting a finger on Eddie’s lips to shut him up. “I did not sit through years of therapy to listen to you beat yourself up over this, Eddie Kaspbrak. You can’t help what you can’t control, remember? I spent two years blaming myself for what happened to you. Sometimes I still do. But that’s not on either of us. The fucking clown killed you, okay? And then we returned the favor. So really, if anyone’s to blame here, it’s Pennywise.” Richie paused, cupping Eddie’s cheek. 

The same one that Bowers stabbed. 

“And we’re doing it all over again, Eds. We’re blaming ourselves for something that was out of our control. We didn’t know all this happen when you got out. Hell, _Hades_ might not’ve even known. And if the Lord of the Underworld couldn’t have predicted this, then _how the fuck_ were we supposed to?”

_Damn_. He’d have to thank his therapist for that one. Richie almost sounded like he had his shit together. 

Eddie stood there, his mouth hanging open. 

“Uh, Eds? You okay down there?” Richie squatted a bit to get to Eddie’s eye level. He waved a hand in front of his face, which Eddie quickly batted away. 

“I’m fine. Just wondering when you became a goddamn adult.”

Richie winked at him. “Must’ve been all those times your mom and I—”

“Gross, no,” Eddie said, shoving Richie away as he went in for a kiss. “Beep beep, Richie. I’m not kissing you after that.”

“Awwww, come one, Eddie Bear! Just once!” Richie made his most obnoxious kissy face as he leaned in again.

Eddie rolled his eyes but didn’t push him away. “Once, you idiot.”

Richie kissed him lightly, then wrapped his hand in the crook of Eddie’s arm. “Want to grab some snacks before the flight?”

“Like… actual snacks?”

“Yeah, actual snacks. What’d you think I—oh! Eddie Kaspbrak, you _devil_, you!” Richie put on his best southern accent. “How scandalous!”

Eddie groaned. “I just wanted food, asshole. I thought _you_ were making an innuendo.”

“I wasn’t. But I could be, if you wanted me to.” He waggled his eyebrows.

“Richie, the sun’s not even out yet.”

“Hasn’t stopped us before—” 

It was Eddie’s turn to put a finger on Richie’s lips to shut him up. “_Trashmouth_. I’m hungry. Let’s get food.”

Richie nodded. “Food sounds great, Eds.”

They walked around LAX for a while, joking with each other and picking out random snacks. After they hit up nearly every snack store in LAX, they made their way to Bev and Ben. Their plane started boarding shortly after. 

Once they were on the plane, Eddie cheered up a bit, and Richie was glad that their talk went so well. He knew Eddie trusted him. Loved him. But it still hurt that he'd been holding so much back. It sounded like Eddie had taken his words to heart, though. 

And Richie meant all of it. 

He was done blaming himself for things that were out of his control. And he was gonna help rescue every last one of those missing kids. 

Because Eddie and Richie didn't put them in that gods-damned maze.

Minos did. 

And Richie was going to make sure he could never hurt anyone again. They _all_ would. Together.

About an hour into their flight, Eddie fell asleep. Of course, this was only because Richie ran his hand through for that whole first hour, but he wasn't complaining.

Eddie began to snore again, and Richie leaned his head against Eddie's, falling asleep, too, as they held hands. 

As he drifted off, Richie hoped that, for now, Eddie’s nightmares were over.


	3. I Tried to Hold You Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ben learns that rules aren't terribly important unless you get caught breaking them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having way too much fun with this lol I hope you enjoy it!

_Laura hadn’t thought things could get any worse. They’d already been kidnapped, dropped off in an endlessly expanding labyrinth, and were being chased by a monster. _

_But then she broke her leg, and she learned to never assume things couldn’t get any worse._

_Jen had done her best to set Laura’s leg, tearing branches off of the tall greenery that surrounded them, and using her shoelaces to tie it all into place. _

_Of course, this meant her best friend was now walking around without any shoes. Laura offered to switch off, so neither of them would be walking around on the gravel for too long, but Jen refused, reminding Laura that Jen’s leg wasn’t broken. _

_Laura shot back that if she kept walking around without shoes, her feet might suffer the same fate. _

_But Jen was stubborn. _

_Laura loved that about her best friend. _

_But Laura also knew this meant Jen would stick by her side, even if it meant that Jen would die right next to her. And she didn’t want that. _

_Laura was certain she’d die in the maze. There were so many things that could kill her, after all. The monster, side-effects from walking around on her untreated leg, or their quickly-dwindling supply of food and water. _

_Laura was ready to face the inevitable. To die. _

_Especially if it gave Jen the chance to escape._

*****

Ben wished he’d had time to shower after the flight, but they’d all agreed to drop their stuff off, quickly change, and head to the maze. None of them knew how much time they had left.

Or how long the kids would be able to keep fighting. 

Eddie had woken up near the end of the flight, thrown up in the plane’s tiny bathroom, and told them about some of the dreams he’d had. Ben couldn’t help but tearing up a bit as his friend described what was happening to those kids. 

They were so goddamn resilient. And he hated that they had to be that way. 

He knew what it was like—being forced to grow up too fast. All of his friends did. And there were so many times where he wished that wasn’t the case. That he wanted them to just be normal, boring kids in a normal, boring town that didn’t have bullies who carved their names into his skin or killer clowns that preyed on their worst fears. 

If Ben had his way, kids would just get the chance to be kids. To have fun and be carefree before life decided to try to take every bit of happiness and normalcy from them. 

But that wasn’t the world they lived in. 

And, if he could help these kids before things got worse, maybe he could still shield them from some of the awful things that the world still had to offer. 

“You good there, Haystack?” Richie asked, nudging him with his foot. “You’re frowning about as much as Eddie did when I told him that I was leaving him for his mom.”

Eddie groaned. “Not funny, Rich.”

Richie kissed the top of Eddie’s head. “Sorry, sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood. No one’s said anything since we got in the car.”

Ariadne had arranged for a car to take them from the hotel to the maze. She really had thought of everything. Their driver seemed friendly enough, though Ben wasn’t sure he was entirely human. 

Judging by how all the color drained out of Eddie’s face when he saw him, Ben would’ve bet his boat on the face that he was right. 

Ben sighed, wrapping an arm around Bev. “Sorry. This is just so fucked up.”

Bev nodded. “Same shit, different day.”

“Different kids,” Eddie said. 

“Different…fucking… evil thing,” Richie added, clearly struggling to figure out what he wanted to say. Everyone looked at him. 

“What?” He asked, shrugging. “Everyone else was getting all deep and angsty. I can’t?”

Their driver cleared his throat. “We’re approaching the palace,” he said. He spoke in the same, semi-lilting accent as Ariadne, though he still couldn’t place where, exactly, it was from. 

The car turned and Ben’s eyes widened as they drove onto the Hampton Court Palace’s immaculate courtyard. 

Ben raised his hand. The driver’s eyes olive green met his gaze in the rearview mirror, making warmth rush up to Ben’s cheeks. For a moment, it was like he was back in school, about to ask a question that the teacher definitely would’ve answered if he hadn’t interrupted them. “Uh… sorry,” Ben said, “But I don’t think we’re supposed to drive up…the driveway…”

Their driver chuckled. “Rules aren’t terribly important until you get caught breaking them.”

Richie snorted. Ben glared at him. 

People walking up to the palace stopped short as their car zoomed up the driveway. Ben closed his eyes, rubbing at his temples. The last thing they needed was more attention. They could be practically announcing themselves to Minos by driving up to the entrance. 

Bev squeezed his hand. “It’s gonna be fine.”

He nodded, resting his head on her shoulder. She was right. Even if Minos knew they were coming, they’d find a way to beat him anyway. It was what they did. 

When the Losers were together, nothing could stop them. Not a bully. Or a fucking clown. Not even death. 

Minos didn’t stand a chance. 

The car slowed to a stop. Richie was the first one out, helping Eddie, who was so tired that he didn’t even bicker at Richie for trying to help him. Ben exchanged a glance with Bev before she got out of the car, also taking Richie’s hand. 

Less than a day ago, Eddie was full of life. But the closer they got to the maze, the worse he looked. Ben had a feeling it was more than just stress that was weighing down on him. 

But none of them had any time to talk about, because they’d been racing to get here since Ariadne gave them her impossible task. 

Ben also took Richie’s hand, pulling him into a hug once he was standing. Richie froze for a moment, and then tightened his hold around Ben. 

“Uh, not that I don’t love the connection we’re making, Haystack, but… what’s this for?”

“Do you ever just… need a hug?” Ben replied. 

“Well, yeah. But I usually get them from Eddie’s mom—”

Their driver cleared his throat. “As heartwarming as this is, you’ve got a maze to run through.” 

Ben sighed, letting Richie go. All he’d ever wanted to do was be there for his friends. He felt like he wasn’t doing a good job of it so far, but he knew he’d be able to help them once they got in the maze. 

He’d loved the Hampton Court Maze for as long as he could remember. Which was saying something, considering he managed to forget most of his friends for more than half of his life. He knew they’d be going into a modified version of it, but there were always ways to figure out where to go. He’d wandered through enough mazes in grad school, thinking about the buildings he wanted to design and drawing on their winding paths for inspiration. 

He hadn’t minded being alone, then. But now he had Bev, and his friends, and he didn’t want to let them down. 

“Okay,” Ben said, as the driver pointed them down a path to their left. “We’ve gotta stick together in there.”  
“Duh,” Richie said, pulling Eddie closer to him. “Not leaving this one alone ever again.”

Eddie blushed. “Love you too, Rich.”

Richie smiled brighter than Ben had ever seen before.

“The maze,” their driver said. “Go. Oh, and give Minos my regards, if you see him.”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “And whose regards are those?”

Eddie paled a little more as their driver winked at them. 

And then he got into the car, racing down the palace’s courtyard. 

“Do they all have to be so cryptic?” Richie asked, rolling his eyes. “All right, Eds. Which one was that?”

“H—” Eddie started to say, the name falling out of his mouth like a breath. But before he could say the name, clouds rushed over the sun, covering everything in darkness.

_MOVE_! a voice boomed. 

They all exchanged a glance. And then they ran for the maze. 

Time stretched on for eons as they pushed themselves forward. The clouds piled into the sky, darkness determinedly dogging their every step as they got closer to the maze. 

Even though Eddie didn’t look great, he was the first one who made it to the entrance. He leaned on Richie, gasping for breath as he gestured to Ben’s backpack. “Vials…” he said, trying to take longer breaths. “Time…for…vials.”

Ben nodded, hands shaking as he gave one of Ariadne’s vials to Richie and Bev. 

“Cheers?” Bev said, holding hers up. 

“Fucking cheers, man,” Richie said, clinking her vial with his. 

Ben couldn’t help but smile, given the circumstances. He loved all of them so much. 

He threw his vial back, reaching out for Bev as the liquid burned down his throat. She grabbed his arm, squeezing it. 

Richie coughed. “Gods, why’d it have to taste like cheap vodka?”

Eddie laughed, finally getting his breath back. “You’ll have to ask her when we see her.” His smile dropped as he met Ben’s gaze. 

“Anything different yet?” he asked. 

“No—” Ben started to reply, but a slew of screams cut him off. The hair on his arms stood on end as a chill ran down his spine. 

“The kids,” Bev said. “We have to go.”

Ben nodded. “Remember, stay together. Hold hands. It’ll be easier that way.”

“You gonna lead the way, Haystack?”

“If that’s what everyone wants.”

They all nodded. 

“Okay,” he said, grabbing Bev’s hand. “Let’s go.”

He looked behind him as he set his right foot in the maze. Bev was holding Eddie’s hand, and Richie was in the back, serving as a buffer between anything that might try to get to Eddie. 

They were together. 

They could do this. 

Darkness thickened around them, so that Ben could barely see in front of his face. He paused, fishing flashlights out of his backpack as he handed them out to his friends. 

More screams filled the air, making Ben flinch. There was so much pain around them. 

They had to find a way to stop it. 

He staggered forward a bit, but Bev grabbed him before he could get too far. He gave her a grateful smile. It’d taken him twenty-seven years, but he was finally with the love of his life. They’d fought for each other, back when they all killed Pennywise. And he knew that, no matter what, they’d always find their way back to each other. 

“Whoa there, New Kid,” Bev said, her grip tightening on his arm. “Don’t go wandering away from us after you told us all to stick together.”

“I wouldn’t dream of—” But before he could finish the thought, everything started to shake. It was as if someone had picked up the world and turned it completely on its side.  
Ben was thrown to one side of the maze, getting the wind knocked out of him when he landed on his back. He sat us, gasping for what seemed like an eternity until he was finally able to breathe. 

The screams around them cresendoed.

And then, it was completely silent. 

Beside him, Richie groaned. “My glasses.”

“You okay, Rich?” Ben asked, handing them to him. 

He put them on. “Fucking fantastic,” he said, turning around. “Eds, you good? Eds?!?”

“I’m over here,” Eddie called, his voice sounding so far away.

_Why did his voice sound so far away?_

“Fuck!” Richie screamed, as the same thought ran through Ben’s mind. 

Ben and Richie stood on one side of the maze, while Bev and Eddie were on the other. A chasm that was way too big to jump stood defiantly between them. 

“What the fuck are we supposed to do now?” Richie yelled. “We can’t stay together like this. Fuck! Eds, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Eddie called back. “We both are.”

Ben’s heart raced. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. 

“We can still do this,” Bev said. “Get as many of them out as you can, and we’ll do the same.”

“Like hell you will,” Richie snapped from across the chasm. “We’ll find a way to you. We’ll do this together.”

Screams sounded all around them, as if they were emphasizing how awful that idea was. Ben hated to admit it, but they had a point. 

“We’ll waste time trying to get back to each other now,” Ben said. “Just keep going,” he called over to Eddie and Bev. There’s some string in my backpack. Use that to mark your path. That’s how we’ll find you.”

“I’m not leaving Eddie!” Richie said, panic rising in his voice. “I can’t leave him again.”

Ben pulled Richie into another hug. “He’s not alone this time, Rich. He’s got Bev. And weren’t you the one who gave him that whole ‘you’re braver than you think’ speech?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“I’ll be fine, dumbass,” Eddie yelled from the other side of the maze. “Save the kids. Don’t worry about me.”

“Well, I love you too, asshole!” Richie screamed back. “Don’t make me drag you out of the Underworld again, motherfucker!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, dipshit! Now, go! We’re wasting time cussing each other out!”

Ben knew that Richie would never leave while Eddie was standing there. It’d taken all the strength he and Mike had left to drag him out of that crumbling, evil house when Eddie died. 

“You go first,” Ben called. He knew Bev would understand what he meant. 

“Love you, New Kid,” she called, dragging Eddie into the darkness. 

“Love you, too,” he yelled after her. 

“Take care of him, Rich!” she called. “You break him, I know where you live!”

Ben and Richie watched them disappear as more screams erupted around them. Richie took his glasses off, wiping tears out of his eyes. 

“It’ll be okay,” Ben said. “We’ll find them. I promise.”

“I know,” Richie said. “I know. I just… I don’t like being away from him. Not after…” he didn’t finish the thought, but Ben knew what he meant well enough.

“They’re the toughest people I know,” Ben said. “They’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” Richie nodded, letting out a long exhale. “But do we?”

And, as if the universe truly wanted to know the answer to his question, Ben’s eyes widened as something crashed through the maze behind them.


	4. But You Were Stronger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bev gets ready to kill a monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There are vague allusions to child and spousal abuse in this chapter.
> 
> Thanks for all the support, everyone! Glad you're enjoying the next part of the adventure :D

_“Laura!” Jen screamed, racing through the maze. “Where are you?”_

_Jen’s screams had become more frantic the longer Laura had been missing. She hated herself for falling asleep, because when she woke up Laura was gone._

_Jen had fucked it up. _

_She was supposed to protect her best friend. She had protected her. And then she fell asleep and everything else fell apart._

_And then there was the voice. The one that followed her around. _

_Taunted her. _

_Told her that Laura was already dead. _

_Jen didn’t want to believe it._

_But she was running out of hope._

*******

Bev lead the way, clinging to Eddie’s hand as she shifted the flashlight’s beam back and forth. She didn’t like being separated from Ben and Richie, but she knew that if they managed to find each other after twenty-seven years of forgetting, then they wouldn’t be apart for long.

They’d faced down the impossible before. And beaten it. Twice. 

But some small part of her wondered if this was something _more_ than impossible. Her friends had met _Hades_ and walked out of the Underworld. The implications kept her awake for most of the flight to England. Because if Greek Gods were real, what did that say about all the other ones? How many mythological wars were being waged right under their noses?

How many unsuspecting fools had gotten dragged in, like them?

And _why_ had they been pulled in, in the first place? Sure, Ariadne said it was because Richie defied the odds when he rescued Eddie, but Bev had the feeling she was holding something back. Everything couldn’t be falling to shit just because Richie brought Eddie back from the dead. 

She needed to brush up on her Greek Myths after this. 

Suddenly, that fucking clown seemed so small in the grand scheme of things. 

“Eddie,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Our driver. You know who he was, don’t you?”

Eddie squeezed her hand back. “Yeah. That was Hermes.”

Bev stopped short. Eddie ran into her. 

“Sorry,” she said, turning to face him. “Did you say ‘Hermes?’ As in ‘Actual Greek God Hermes?’”

Eddie nodded. “God of Shepherds, land travel, and literature.”

“Quite the list.”

“He was also a psychopomp—he’d guide souls to the Underworld.”

_Oh, no_. Bev’s heart sank. “That’s why you barely spoke in the car? Did you think…oh, Eddie!” She threw her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. “Eddie, you’re not going back there. We’re all alive. And we’re pretty lost, if we’re gonna indulge in Honesty Hour at the Hampton Court Palace.”

Eddie held her tightly, then let go. “I know. I know he wasn’t bringing us… _there_. But it just got me thinking that if I _do_ die again, Richie won’t… he can’t…” his voice broke. 

“Hey, hey,” she said, fishing a tissue out of Ben’s backpack. “You don’t have to worry about that, Eds. You’re not going anywhere.”

“But if I do… if this maze kills me…please, Bev—” he looked up at her through puffy red eyes “—help him move on this time. He has to be happy. I need to know that he’ll be happy.”

“Oh, Eddie—” Before she could reassure him, more screams sailed through the air. They flinched. Bev swallowed, meeting her friend’s gaze. “We should keep going.”

Eddie nodded, grabbing her hand as she turned around. She sighed, sweeping the light back and forth as they started moving again. 

She didn’t have the heart to tell Eddie what Richie was like after he died. How he’d spent the better part of a year bouncing around from Loser to Loser, trying to make sense of what happened. And how they all tried to figure out how to help him work through his pain. 

There’d been so much pain. She hated seeing Richie weighed down by it all. 

It was only after visiting with Bev and Ben that Richie finally started to look into therapy. He moved back to LA, and Bill checked on him as much as he could. 

Bev wondered if Eddie knew what she couldn’t say. Maybe that was why he was so determined to make sure everyone else would help him, again, if the unthinkable happened. 

She squeezed her friend’s hand, a silent reassurance that, no matter what, they’d always be there for each other. 

It was their new oath. One they didn’t need a scar on their hand to remember. 

“Bev?”

“Hmm?”

“How did you deal with it? Watching us die every night?”

Bev let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t. At all.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t know who any of you were. I just thought… well, I don’t know what I thought. That I made you all up, somehow. Some kind of manifestation of everything that was wrong with my life.”

“Did you… did you ever feel like you _could_ remember, if you wanted to?”

Bev was silent for a long time. She’d had moments where she remembered a poem, and a boy—but there’d always been an overwhelming sense of dread that accompanied it. She’d always known she was missing something but had been too scared to ever try to look. 

Her memories had vanished for a reason. At the time, she attributed it all to some deep, enduring trauma from her childhood that she was better off forgetting. 

But lately, she’d wondered what life would’ve been like if she’d remembered anything. Ben had been able to, and so had Richie. They both managed to cling onto the memories of people they never wanted to let go of for twenty-seven years. Even when those people let _them_ go. 

There were times when Bev felt a little guilty about how easily she’d been able to erase Ben from her mind. But Ben understood that there were some things from her past—some people—that might’ve made forgetting everything entirely too tempting. 

“Yes,” she finally replied. “It’s a little like now, I think. We’re choosing to hold onto everything this time. The good and the bad.”

And she had. While she’d never gotten closure with her father while he was alive, she was able to finally stop being afraid of him the day they killed Pennywise. She’d never forget the relief she felt as she finally kicked that fucking door in his face, telling him, in her own way, to go to hell. 

She’d felt that way once before: when she left Tom to go to Derry. There’d been too many emotions for her to make sense of at the time, but she knew that relief was there. She’d been proud of herself for finally leaving him and couldn’t help but feel a small amount of hope blossoming in her chest as she walked away in the rain. 

It was the hope that drew her back to Derry. Not fear. Although that would set in soon enough. 

But she knew as soon as she put her wedding ring on their doorstep that, for the first time in her life, she was finally walking toward something, and not away from it. 

Now, she was glad that she’d followed that hope. It’d led her back to her real friends. To Ben.

And she was truly happy. 

But there were still some days where the sadness crept in. Where she mourned the life she could’ve had, if things had just gone differently. 

If she’d let herself remember sooner. 

Those days didn’t last long. There were some things that were out of her control, and Bev had spent a long time working through them in therapy. She knew that none of it had been her fault—even though she’d spent years blaming herself for every bad thing in her life. It was slow, painful work—unlearning and undoing the damage that’d been done—but she knew it was worth it. 

Eddie sighed. “We’re all really fucked up, huh?”

Bev nodded. “Yeah. But who isn’t?”

And, as if the universe wanted to prove her point, a figure burst through the wall of plants in front of them, screaming. 

Bev tensed, but only for a moment. It wasn’t a minotaur that crashed through the maze—it was a girl. 

She couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen. Her hair was starting to come out of the bun that sat precariously on the top of her head, and a few twigs and leaves stuck out of it at odd angles. She had scratches on her arms, her clothes were dirty, and there was a splash of red on her shirt. 

Bev flinched. Blood. Of course she’d have to deal with blood again. 

Bev and Eddie let go of each other as they both instinctively reached out and grabbed one of the girl’s hands, halting her before she could run through another wall. 

The girl screamed. “Let me go, you sick fucking bastards! Let me go!” 

Bev and Eddie made eye contact as the girl tried to break free of their grasp. And she might’ve been able to do it, if she’d had a good night’s sleep, consistent warm meals, and wasn’t under an endless amount of stress. 

But, instead, after a few moments of struggle she just… collapsed. Her anger gave way to despair.

And she sobbed. “Why are you doing this to us?” she asked. “Just let us go. _Please_.”

Bev knelt down next to her, about to put her hand on the girl’s back, but decided it was better to let her be. “Oh, honey, we’re here to help you. We’re not… we didn’t do this to you.”

“Liar,” she sobbed. “You’re all liars.” 

Bev’s heart broke at how much pain was in her voice. The girl reminded her of how broken Bill was after Georgie died. How they all held him in the cistern after their first battle with Pennywise. 

Bev looked up at Eddie, and from the way he watched her, he knew it, too: this was also how Richie looked in the quarry, after he finally accepted that Eddie wasn’t coming back. 

“We were sent here to help,” Eddie said, gently, as he knelt down next to the girl too. “We want to get all of you out—”

“Laura,” the girl wailed, her tears falling faster as she struggled to breathe. “She’s gone. She left. Why did she leave?”

Bev’s gaze darted to the blood on the girl’s shirt. Her heart sank. “What’s your name, honey?” she asked, hoping to take her mind off of whatever happened to Laura. 

“J-Jen,” she replied, sniffling. “Jen Marks.”

“How’d you wind up here, Jen?” Eddie asked. Bev gave him a small smile. He really should’ve been a doctor—he had a great bedside manner. 

Jen let out a shaky breath. “I… I don’t know. We were on our way to school, and then everything got really dark and I… I think I fell asleep? When I woke up, Laura was with me and the others were, too, and…” her voice trailed away as more tears filled her eyes. “And then there was this man… his voice… he told us to start running. And none of knew what to do so we just stood there and then…” she cried for a few minutes, too overwhelmed to talk. Eddie kept handing her tissues, and Bev would take them away. 

After a few more deep breaths, Jen continued. “When we didn’t move, _something_ came out of the maze. A monster.”

Bev and Eddie exchanged a glance. 

Eddie cleared his throat. “This monster… did it look like a half-man, half bull?”

Jen nodded. “It… it walked over to another kid standing near me. And then it tried to… it tried to kill him.” She clutched the tissue in her hand. “But I couldn’t… I didn’t want Laura to see that. She couldn't... So, I found… there was a shovel nearby and I picked it up and I fucking clocked it in the face. Got its blood all over my shirt. And then everyone screamed, and ran, and Laura grabbed my hand and we got out there as fast as we could but then we got lost and… and now—and now I don’t know where she is. She could be… what if she’s…”

She cleared her throat, not daring to finish the thought. “I need to find her. I’m not leaving the maze without her.”

“We have people we care about in the maze, too,” Bev replied. “We’ll help you find her. We promise.”

Jen looked up at them, trying to blink back more tears. “Who… who do you have in the maze?”

“My husband,” Bev said.

“And my dumbass boyfriend,” Eddie added. 

Jen looked at Eddie closely for a moment, and then nodded. “So you’ll… you’ll help me find her?”

“Of course,” Bev said, smiling at her. “But we might need a little more information. Can you help us with that?”

Jen nodded. “Who _are_ you?”

“My name’s Bev, and this is Eddie. We were sent here by… um, someone who doesn’t agree with what’s happening here.”

The despair in Jen’s eyes gave way to something else. A fiery determination burned as she pushed herself off of the ground, standing. 

“You’re here to stop it?” Jen asked. 

“Yes,” Eddie replied. “But to do that, we need to know where Minos is.”

“Minos?”

“The one who put you in this maze. The voice that you heard that told you to run? That was Minos.”

Jen shook her head. “No. He… he introduced himself to us, but his name wasn’t Minos. He said it was—”

Before she could finish her thought, the ground shook. Bev and Eddie grabbed Jen’s arms again, making sure that she stayed with them. 

But, unlike last time, there wasn’t a gaping chasm in the ground. 

Nothing changed. 

“I hate this fucking maze,” Eddie muttered. 

“Fucking relatable,” Jen said. 

“We should keep moving, in case—”

“Good evening, Losers,” a voice boomed from all around them. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to give you a formal welcome when you first entered my maze. I had a small matter of business to take care of and got a bit… distracted, as it were. Now, I know that was rather… _inhospitable_ of me, but allow me to make up for it now.”

The voice paused. A cold breeze wound around all of them. Bev held Jen and Eddie close. 

“I’ve made a few improvements to the maze’s original design. Minos had a good thing going, you know, but sadly it had to come to an end. But, you live and you learn! Unless you’re trapped in there with the minotaur, of course, and then… well. You know the drill.”

“Show yourself, you fucking coward!” Eddie yelled.

Bev was briefly transported to the time when thirteen-year-old Eddie soccer kicked Pennywise after declaring that he would kill It. She couldn’t help but smile a little. Some things never changed. 

“If you want to get to me,” the voice said, “then you have to get out of my maze. It’s your choice, Losers: keep exploring, keep finding your precious children, and waste your time and energy getting them out—or, find me and _prove_ that you’re the heroes Hades and Persephone say you are.”

“What the fuck does that have to do with this?” Eddie asked. 

“_Everything_,” the voice shot back, its words laced with venom. “You don’t have a godly parent. You weren’t given any gifts from a patron deity. You aren’t special. And yet, _somehow_, you did something that Orpheus could not. You were better than the son of a god and a muse. It’s impossible.”

“Technically, fuckface, my _boyfriend_ was better than the son of a god and a muse. And Orpheus didn’t seem to mind, since as he was finally able to see Eurydice again.”

“Orpheus will be dealt with in his own way. But you, Edward Kaspbrak—you’re _my_ problem now.”

“Oh, yeah?” Eddie said, his whole body shaking. Bev had the distinct impression that another soccer kick to the face was in the near future. “And who the fuck are you?”

“Someone who’s _also_ accomplished the impossible. I was the only one to ever make it out of Minos’s labyrinth.”

Bev’s eyes widened. 

Ariadne had a plan for everything. 

Except for this. 

Eddie let out a string of curses. “_Theseus_, you motherfucker—”

“I’ll see you soon, Edward,” Theseus said, cutting him off. “And you too, Beverley. Remember, the choice is yours: the children, or me.”

And then, just like that, the voice was gone. 

“Well, fuck!” Eddie yelled, flipping the maze off. “Fuck that asshole. All this bullshit, just to prove he’s better than us? What a fucking asshat, I can’t believe—” he stopped short when he saw Jen’s mouth hanging open. “Ah, uh, sorry.”

Jen shrugged. “Not the first time I’ve heard cursing but, uh, it was rather impressive.”

Eddie’s face reddened as he turned to Bev. “What should we do?”

Eddie and Jen looked at her expectantly. She opened her mouth for a moment, fishing for an answer before she frowned. She had no idea what Ben and Richie were doing. 

But she hoped they were finding as many kids as they could. 

Theseus was trying to force them into a choice. He wanted to control them.

Just like Bev’s dad. Eddie’s mom. Tom and Myra.

But the thing was, there was always a third option. 

Bev smiled. “I’ve got a plan.”

She had no idea how they were going to pull it off. But she believed in her friends with all her heart. 

They’d killed a monster before.

And, before the day was done, they’d add another to their list.


	5. And I Have Met My Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ben asks Richie if he's played football

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a really slow day at work, so here we are lol

Ben jumped, pulling Richie back as a girl with a makeshift splint on her leg burst through the maze wall. Her eyes widened when she saw them, and she stumbled forward, almost hitting the ground. 

Ben and Richie rushed toward her, each grabbing an arm and hauling her back up. He winced at the scratches on her arms and legs, but thankfully, the girl hadn’t noticed. 

She hadn’t really noticed much of anything. She had a glazed over look in her eyes—as if the world had been too much, and she needed to shut it all out for a while. He’d seen that look before. Everyone in the Losers Club wore it, at one time or another, the summer they faced off against It. 

Ben caught Richie’s gaze. This girl wasn’t much older than they were the first time they fought Pennywise. 

But she was alone. They’d had each other—watched each other’s backs. But who was looking out for her?

Ben exhaled, offering his hand to the girl while rage seethed just below the surface. 

He hated Minos for this. 

“I’m Ben,” he said, hoping his voice would be enough to snap the girl out of her trance. “This is my friend, Richie.”

It took a few awkward moments of Ben standing there with his hand outstretched, but the girl finally blinked and took his hand. 

“Laura,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “Are you… are you here to kill me?”

“Oh, fuck no, kid!” Richie replied, forcing a cheery note into his voice. “We’re here to rescue you.”

Her mouth dropped open. “People know we’re in here?”

Richie’s eyes widened as he looked at Ben. _What do we say?_ He mouthed.

Ben shrugged. _The truth?_ He replied.

Richie grimaced. “Well, uh… not normal people?” his voice went up about two octaves at the end. He cleared his throat. “More like… immortal people?”

Ben sighed. “You’re in a maze that was created by King Minos,” he said. “Like… the King Minos from Greek mythology. It’s cool if you don’t know who he is, we didn’t until—”

“No,” Laura shook her head, dread creeping into her voice. “It’s not Minos.”

“You heard the girl,” a voice said, from somewhere behind them. “It’s not Minos. And thank the gods, too, because he’s terribly dull.”

Ben turned, putting himself between the sound and the others. 

A man smiled at them, holding his hands out in what would _usually_ be construed as a peaceful gesture. But whatever was in those vials that Ariadne gave them showed him the truth.

The _physical_ man in front of them was wearing a coral polo, khakis, and boat shoes (when he wasn’t on a boat, what was the point?). He had blond hair, tan skin, green eyes, and a smile that looked way too white to be natural. Ben supposed that it probably wasn’t natural. 

To the rest of the world, he looked like a douchey, run-of-the-mill frat bro. But the shade behind him told a different story. He wore a light set of armor, like Ben had seen in all those awful movies made about Greek Gods. A ball of string was tied at a loop around his waist, and a sword was sheathed at his side. 

The sword was covered in blood. Ben frowned. Bev wouldn’t have liked that. 

But that wasn’t the worst of it. 

Ariadne’s body lay at his feet. As did the Minotaur’s head. 

Eddie told them about him. 

“Theseus,” Richie said, beating Ben to the punch. “You son of a bitch.”

"Excuse you?" Theseus glared at them. “My mother was _royalty_.”

“Would ya lookit that!” Richie said, using his awful British accent again. “Looks like we’ve found ourselves a _royal ass_.”

Ben snorted. Laura laughed lightly. 

Theseus’s shade unsheathed his sword while the physical one stared daggers at Richie. “How _dare_ you speak to me like that.”

Richie moved next to Ben, shrugging. “Sorry, baby, the truth hurts.”

Ben wasn’t sure that goading Theseus into a fight was the best idea. But he also didn’t have anything better in mind. He balled his hands into fists, ready to be the first one to take any blow that Theseus might try to land on them. 

“Also, your mom’s name was Aethra, right?” Richie asked, stepping forward. Ben held his hand out, holding his friend back. He knew what was coming. 

He could’ve stopped it. 

But also, Ben knew a good distraction when he saw one. He noticed a rock near his foot. 

And he let Richie Trashmouth Tozier do what he did best. 

Theseus blinked. His shade lowered the sword. “Yeah? So?”

So, he stood there as Richie winked at Theseus. “I met her last night. Proposed on the spot. Guess who’s your new stepdad?”

Confusion spread across Theseus’s face. “That’s impossible. She hasn’t returned from the Underworld.”

“She said I could call you ‘son,’ so I hope that’s cool.” Richie continued. “We’re gonna be so happy together, _son_—”

Ben picked up the rock, chucking it as hard as he could at Theseus’s head. The Immortal staggered back, rage spreading across his features. 

The shade’s sword was back out. 

But Ben had been able to catch him by surprise. So, he rushed Theseus, knocking him down to the ground. He landed one good punch to Theseus’s chiseled face before the Immortal’s wits—and strength—returned to him.

“Enough!” Theseus yelled, launching Ben into the air. He crashed against one of the maze’s walls, getting the wind knocked out of him when he hit the ground. 

Silver stars erupted into Ben’s vision as Theseus advanced on Richie and Laura. Ben groaned, trying to push himself off of the ground, but falling down. He was still struggling to breathe. 

“Laura,” Richie said calmly, “Please help Ben. I’ll deal with this asswipe.”

Laura ran over, doing her best to help Ben up. But she was about half his height and had a broken leg. Ben didn’t want her to hurt herself. 

Theseus laughed. “_You_ are the one who walked through the Underworld and didn’t turn around? Hades is more pathetic than I thought.”

“At least he’s honest,” Richie snapped back. “More than I can say for you. You’d still be stuck in the maze if Ariadne hadn’t helped your sorry ass out of there.”

Theseus’s lip curled. “Ah, yes. _Ariadne_. Tell me, how’s she doing?”

“A lot better now that you’re not in her life, douchebag.”

“So much anger on her behalf. It’s not like you were the one left to die, Richard Tozier. In fact, if I recall correctly, that was poor _Eddie’s_ fate last time, wasn’t it?”

Richie rushed at Theseus, but Ben held him back. Although his friend was fueled entirely by righteous fury, Ben wasn’t sure that would be enough to do any lasting damage to the Immortal. 

“Fuck you!” Richie screamed. 

“How cute,” Theseus said, smiling. “Your boyfriend said the same thing.”

“If you hurt him, I’ll—”

“Ah!” Theseus said, holding out a hand. “I believe the time for idle threats is over. As is our time together. But I’ll leave you with the choice I gave to the others: find the children and leave the maze or find me and end this, once and for all.” Theseus raised an eyebrow. “Now, before you think I’m making it too easy to follow me, I’ve got a wonderful little reunion planned for you.”

The Immortal’s smile widened as a mass larger than Richie and Ben combined punched a hole through the maze’s wall. Laura whimpered behind them, grabbing onto Ben’s hand. 

And he grabbed Richie’s. 

Because the Minotaur stood in front of them. It was everything like Ben imagined, and nothing at all. Half-man, half-bull, all muscle, and wielding a nasty looking axe. Rage burned behind the Minotaur’s bright yellow eyes. 

Ben and Richie flinched, squeezing each other’s hands. They were so similar to eyes that’d made their childhoods miserable.

Eyes that almost took everything from them. 

“I’ll leave you all to get acquainted,” Theseus said. “Oh, and Laura? Don’t think Jen will ever forgive you for leaving her.”

Richie cussed Theseus out as he vanished. 

Ben heard Laura’s breath catch from behind him. He made a note to ask her about that later.

They had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. 

Richie cussed Theseus out as he vanished. 

“What a fucking waste of space,” Richie said when it was just them and the Minotaur. “I can’t believe Ariadne ever saw something in that guy.”

“She wanted a way off of her island,” Ben replied, as the Minotaur circled them. “He was convenient. It’s amazing what people can talk themselves into.”

He’d had so many talks with Bev about what her life was like when she couldn’t remember him. The things she told herself in order to stay with Tom. How she’d been so close to leaving so many times before Derry. And how she hadn’t, for one reason or another. 

It was complicated. And Ben would always be angry on her behalf. But Bev was tough as nails. She was a fucking badass. And she’d worked hard to make sense of her past. He was so goddamn proud of her. Every moment, of every day. 

He’d never stop being proud. 

“Okay, Dr. Phil, let’s psychoanalyze everyone _after_ we’ve taken care of the big bull man,” Richie replied.

Ben knew that Richie was thinking about Eddie, too.

Kind, brave, _good_ Eddie, who married someone just as manipulative as his mother. Who died, saving Richie’s life. And who gave Richie the hope he needed to do an impossible thing. 

Ben and Richie were two of the luckiest people on earth. 

He just hoped that luck would hold out for a little longer. 

“Hey, Ben? Any idea how we’re going to do this without any weapons?” Richie asked. 

“Just gotta use our imaginations,” Ben replied. Richie groaned. Ben shook his head, turning to Laura. “If anything happens to us… if we can’t get to you anymore… you run, okay? I know your leg isn’t in great shape, but you’ve gotta run. Yell for Bev or Eddie. You got that? Bev or Eddie. They can help you if we can’t.”

Laura nodded, tears filling her eyes. 

Ben squeezed her hand. “Hey, hey. It’s gonna be okay. I promise.”

“It’s go-time, Haystack,” Richie said, as the Minotaur took a couple of steps toward them. “How do you wanna do this?”

“You ever play football?” Ben asked. 

“Why the fuck would I have ever played—”

Before Richie could finish replying, Ben charged at the Minotaur, lowering his center of gravity so he could get under the axe and tackle him. 

The Minotaur paused for a moment with its axe raised mid-air. And then it moved out of the way of Ben’s trajectory, walking over to a different part of the maze’s wall instead. He raised the axe and began cutting a hole through the plants. 

Ben sat on the ground, baffled, as the Minotaur carved out a patch of wall that was big enough for him to get through. 

And then the bull-man stepped into it, leaving them behind. 

“What the fuck?” Richie asked, vocalizing the question that was screaming in Ben’s mind. “Wasn’t he supposed to like, kill us, just now?”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to,” Laura said, softly. 

“Or maybe he’s just waiting for us to follow him,” Ben said. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. We should keep going. Laura, let us know if you need a break, okay? I don’t want you standing on that leg for too long.”

Tears welled in Laura’s eyes again. “You sound like Jen.”

“Is she in the maze, too?” Richie asked. 

Laura nodded. “We were together, but then I got hurt and… and I knew she’d never leave me. I didn’t want to be the reason she died. So, I ran away from her while she was sleeping. I know… I know it was a shitty thing to do. But I was ready to die in this maze when I left her.”

Ben’s heart sank. He knew that, if it came down to a choice between saving himself or saving Bev, he’d choose her every time. 

But Ben was 40 years old. It made sense for him to have to face that decision. 

Laura was just a kid. She shouldn’t have to deal with something so heavy. 

But she was doing a damn fine job at handling everything. 

“Hey,” Richie said, kneeling down to Laura’s eye level. “You’re not gonna die in this maze, kiddo. You’ve got us. We’ve got you. We’ll help each other.” He offered her his hand, and she took it. “And we’ll find Jen, okay? Don’t listen to that asshole. It sounds like she cares about you a lot. She’ll understand why you did what you did.”

Laura sobbed, throwing her arms around Richie’s neck. He swayed back slightly as she hugged him, and for a moment Ben was worried that they’d both fall to the ground. But Richie found his balance, holding her up as she cried. 

“She’s my best friend,” Laura said, her words barely more than a whisper. “No one knows… _she_ doesn’t know… but I… I love her.”

“Oh, kid,” Richie said, squeezing her tighter, “I know exactly how you feel.”


	6. In Quite a Similar Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bev participates in a group hug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically I wrote this _after_ I met my book's revision goal for the day, so, like, I'm still following my own rules. I think.
> 
> Thanks again for the support and enthusiasm, y'all! I have a fun interlude planned after this story wraps up, and more greek myths to re-tell in a kinder way after that :D I hope you enjoy this next part <3

“Do you think it worked?” Jen asked, as smoke from a semi-charred granola bar filled the air. 

“We won’t know for a while,” Eddie replied, trying not to gag at the smell. 

Bev wrinkled her nose. She didn’t think burnt granola would smell…well…_like that_ when she came up with the idea, but it wasn’t exactly like they were camping somewhere and making smores. 

Though smores sounded pretty good, given the circumstances. 

“Let’s keep moving, then,” Bev said, eager to get away from their improvised offering. They still hadn’t crossed paths with the Minotaur, and Bev didn’t want to know if charred granola was something a mythological half-man, half-bull would be interested in.

“What do we do when we run out of string?” Jen asked, clutching the last ball of yarn that Ben had in his backpack. They’d already used up eleven of them as they walked through Theseus’s maze. 

“We’ll find a different way to mark our path,” Eddie said, giving her a small smile. 

“Like what?”

“Shit, I don’t know. Haven’t worked it out yet.”

Jen sighed, holding the string even tighter. “Do you think Laura’s found the yarn? That she’s following it?”

“I don’t know, hon,” Bev replied. And it was true: she’d hoped, by now, that they would’ve found Ben and Richie. Or, really, _anyone_ that wasn’t Theseus or the Minotaur.

But for a maze that was supposed to contain fourteen missing kids, the only one they’d found so far was Jen. 

It was odd. And Bev had no explanation for it. 

But Jen’s friend, Laura, was lost, somewhere. And they needed to find her, just like they needed to find Ben and Richie. 

Bev slowed a little, so that she was behind the others. She looked back, following the trail of yarn until it wound its way around a corner. She was glad they’d had that much with them on the boat. And it was only because she’d taken up knitting recently and was in the process of teaching Ben. 

He was, unsurprisingly, remarkably good at it.

Eddie was the one who suggested they bring everything they had. And Bev figured, at the time, that twelve of them would be enough. 

But it was still a finite resource. And if they didn’t find the others soon, Bev wasn’t sure what they were going to do. 

_How did Theseus not run out of string?_ she wondered, as they walked. She glared at the maze. Maybe the gods blessed him with a never-ending supply because he was a _hero_. Whatever that meant, anyway. To her, Theseus would always be the douchebag who abandoned Ariadne in life and put fourteen kids in danger in death. 

Not really a winner in anyone’s book but his own. 

But he seemed to be so into himself that maybe that was all that mattered to him, in the end. 

What a sad, pathetic life that was. 

Bev sighed, focusing on the two people in front of her. _They_ were her priority now. Kicking Theseus’s ass could wait. 

“Hey, Eddie?” Jen said, looking up at him as they walked. “You said earlier that you… you have a boyfriend?”

“Yeah, kid. He’s a dumbass, but I love him anyway.”

Bev smiled. “He’s loved him since we were kids,” she said, nudging Eddie. He blushed at that.

“You have?” Jen asked, her eyes wide. 

“Yeah. I didn’t… I couldn’t…” Eddie sighed. “Nothing happened back then, though. It was… a little complicated for us. But I’m glad we’re happy now.”

Jen nodded. “If things were different—if they were _less_ complicated—would you have wanted something to happen?”

“Kid, I would’ve _died_ right on the spot!” Eddie said, laughing before he winced. “Ah, sorry, not supposed to make those jokes anymore.” He exchanged a glance with Bev before he continued. “Let’s just say I would’ve thought I’d hit my head and woken up in, like, a parallel universe or something. Richie Tozier? In love with _me_? Never thought it could happen.”

Bev rolled her eyes. “Even though all they ever did was bicker like an old married couple. Stan and I had a bet going about how long it’d take for those two idiots to realize that they were in love.”

“Stan?” Jen asked. 

Eddie reached out, squeezing Bev’s hand. 

“He’s another one of us,” Bev said. “He died a couple of years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Jen said, her voice wavering. 

“I am, too,” Bev replied, as sadness washed over her. “He was a good friend. And he was _way_ more observant than everyone else in the group. Aside from me, of course.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie said, waving the thought away, “Everyone knew but us. I get it.”

“But _how_ did you know?” Jen asked, tears welling in her eyes. 

_Oh_, Bev thought, as Eddie and Jen stopped moving. 

Realization dawned on Eddie’s face as he caught Bev’s gaze. 

Bev nodded, understanding this was something he should do without her. “I’m gonna… scout ahead. Just a few steps. Can I borrow that string, Jen? I’ll give it back soon.”

Jen shook her head. “No. Please, stay. I don’t wanna lose anyone else.”

Bev smiled as she knelt down next to her. “Only if that’s what you want.”

Jen nodded. 

“Okay,” Bev said, standing as Eddie knelt down to take her place. 

“So, I… I think I always knew, kid,” Eddie said, smiling warmly at her. “But for a long time—for most of my life, actually—I was scared of what that meant. I spent the better part of forty years worrying about the comments people would make. Or the looks they’d give us. Or… or the shitty things they’d do to us if we just walked down the fucking street holding hands and… and I tried so hard to ignore it. To forget. And I kind of did. I forgot for a while. Tried to be someone I wasn't. But it was always there, in the back of my mind. _He_ was always there, even when I didn’t know it…” Eddie’s voice trailed away as he started to tear up. 

Bev placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it before he continued. 

“But that’s the funny thing about fear. You spend so long being scared of something, and then the thing finally happens, and you wind up being so goddamn happy that you wonder why you ever allowed that fear to rule your life in the first place. Sure, the bad stuff can still happen. Comments, looks, or gods forbid, someone actually hurts you for it. There are so many things that can go wrong in a given day. I was a risk analyst. I know.”

Bev snorted at that.

“And you know what’s waiting for us at the end of this, kid? We die. We die no matter what. So, the way I see it, if you feel comfortable taking a risk—if you know there are people who will love you, accept you, and have your back no matter what? Then _fuck fear_. And fuck anyone who tries to tell you who you should be. Because they don’t know shit. As long as you’re the best Jen Marks possible, that’s all that matters. And if that means waiting until you leave your hometown to tell anyone, that’s okay. Do it when you’re ready. But… just remember to take a chance on yourself, okay? You might be surprised at what happens.”

Jen sobbed, and Eddie held her tighter. “You deserve to be happy,” Eddie said, as Jen cried into his shoulder. “Don’t let anyone _ever_ convince you otherwise.” He glanced up at Bev, who was crying about as hard as he was. She smiled through her tears, squeezing his shoulder once more. “And hey,” Eddie continued, sniffling, “if you ever need someone to talk to, I’ll be around, okay? And so will my dumbass boyfriend, and Bev, and her super-hot husband. You’re not in this alone.”

“You promise?” Jen asked, so quiet that Bev barely heard it. 

“Of course,” Eddie said. “My boyfriend once said Bev’s husband was as hot as a whole Brazilian soccer team rolled into one person.”

Bev laughed, hitting him lightly in the shoulder. “What he’s _trying_ to say is, we’ve got your back.”

Jen finally pulled away from Eddie, wiping at the last few tears that were still falling down her face. “And Laura’s?”

Eddie nodded. “Laura, too.”

Bev offered her hand out to Jen. “You know, we have a name for our group of friends.”

“We’re Losers,” Eddie said. “Well, The Losers Club, to be a bit more specific.”

“If you two wanna join, I think we can take on a couple of new members,” Bev said, as she helped Jen up. “We can have a satellite branch here in the UK.”

Eddie laughed. “You know, we should’ve thought of that sooner. Global expansion of the Losers brand—”

But Eddie didn’t have time to finish the thought, because Jen pulled them both into a hug. “Thank you,” she said. 

They both wrapped their arms around her, standing in the safety of their group hug for as long they all needed to.

*****

When they started to move again, Bev noticed that the sky wasn’t as dark as it’d been before. She hadn’t heard anyone scream in a while, thank the gods, but she could’ve sworn she was starting to hear—

“Birds?” Eddie asked, looking up. “Is that… do you hear that?”

Jen nodded. Her eyes were still a bit red and puffy, but she’d marched on through the maze, dutifully securing the string to any branches she could find as they moved. “They’re up ahead,” was all she said before she started to run. 

Eddie and Bev exchanged a glance. And then they sprinted after her. 

“Jen, wait for us!” Bev called.

“Slow down, kid!” Eddie huffed out. 

Jen rounded a corner, vanishing into the maze. Bev pushed herself, muscles screaming as she sped up—and then nearly ran into Jen, as the girl stood there, completely frozen. 

Eddie turned the corner, going way too fast. Bev grabbed his arm, swinging him around and to a safe stop before he could crash into either of them. 

“Do us a favor,” Eddie said, between breaths. “Don’t do that again, kid—” 

His thought was cut short when Bev put a hand on his arm. His gaze drifted over to Jen, and then to what was in front of her, and the color that’d rushed into his face as he was running quickly drained away. 

“Oh, shit,” he muttered. 

“Oh, shit,” Bev replied, looking at Jen’s empty hands. 

They’d _finally_ run out of string. 

Not that it mattered, at the moment. 

Because Jen stopped at the entrance to the middle of the maze. 

And the Minotaur stood right at the center. 

Along with twelve kids.


	7. And How Could I Ever Refuse?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Richie uses his thinking face...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains allusions to sexual assaults that happen in a few greek myths.
> 
> One more chapter left!!!
> 
> I'm not saying I've already planned out Phase One of this fic series but, uh, I've planned out Phase One of this fic series! (Complete with five parts and a couple of fun interludes that I hope y'all will enjoy)!
> 
> Until then, I hope y'all enjoy the Part 2's penultimate installment!

Laura hadn’t let go of Richie’s hand for a long time. Not that he minded. There were so many times when he was growing up that he wished someone would’ve done the same for him. Told him that things would be hard, and sometimes they’d suck. But that they could also be okay, in the end. 

He wanted to give her the hope he never had. 

And whatever the hell he said to her seemed to have worked. He honestly wasn’t sure what that’d been, exactly—it all just kind of came rushing out when she said that she was in love with her best friend. Richie told her about how he’d always loved Eddie, how scared he’d been to tell him, and how obnoxiously, adorably, happy they were now. 

He’d left out the part about the fucking clown. And Eddie dying. There was no use in stressing her out any more than she already was. 

And by the end of their talk, she was crying, he was crying, Ben was crying. They were all kind of a mess. 

They allowed themselves as many moments as they needed before they moved on. 

But, eventually, they moved forward. And that was the important thing. 

“Hey, Richie?” Ben asked, turning so that he was walking backwards for a bit.

“Yeah?”

“How’d you know Theseus’s mom’s name?”

Richie squinted at him. “What? I’m not allowed to know things?”

Ben laughed. “Eddie told you, didn’t he?”

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” he replied, winking at his friend. “But, you know, if that magician’s boyfriend happens to be ridiculously adorable while he spouts off details about a story that you’ve never really heard of while you’re packing for a trip to England? Then that magician might retain a small piece of relevant information. Hypothetically, of course.”

Of course, it wasn’t hypothetical at all. Sure, it’d been a bit difficult for Richie to concentrate as Eddie went on a rant about Theseus while they were trying to pack for this trip. Eddie was just too goddamn cute when he went on oddly specific, very angry tirades in which he cussed out notable mythological figures. 

But Richie remembered vaguely trying to make a really bad pun out of Theseus’s mom’s name (_Yeah, but could she connect to the Aethra-net?_), and then Eddie threw a pillow at him, called him a dumbass, and kept calling Theseus a motherfucker. 

Richie pointed out that, _technically_, that was a _different_ dude from Greek myth. He couldn’t remember his name, but he knew it wasn’t Theseus. After he said that, Eddie looked like he was contemplating smothering Richie with the pillow or proposing to him. 

So, it’d been a pretty normal Monday, really. 

“I think I need a break,” Laura said, squeezing Richie’s hand as they rounded another corner. “I’m getting a little dizzy.”

Richie and Ben exchanged a glance. He didn’t know much about medical stuff, but he knew that probably wasn’t a good sign. 

“Yeah, sure,” Richie said, slowing down. “This seems like as good a place as any.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling as she leaned against one of the maze’s walls. 

Richie tensed, getting ready to pull her away in case she fell through. But she seemed to have found a spot where the plants were dense enough to hold her up. 

“You good, kid?” Richie asked. Laura nodded. “Okay,” Richie said, giving her a small smile, “I’m gonna go have a chat with Ben, all right? We’ll only be a few steps away. Shout if you need anything.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, closing her eyes. “I just need to rest.”

Richie hesitated for a moment, watching her. Eddie had said something along those lines before he…

Richie shook the thought away. Laura wasn’t dying in this maze.

Ben was watching her, too, frowning. It looked like he was racing to do some kind of math in his mind. Probably working through the same things Richie was.

“What do you think?” Richie asked, his voice nearly a whisper. 

“I think I should carry her for a bit. If she wants me to. She’s been on that leg for too long.”

Richie nodded. “Sounds good, Haystack. She just needs rest, is all.”

“And a doctor.”

“Too bad Theseus didn’t steal any of those to hide in the maze,” Richie quipped. “Would’ve been the first useful thing he’s done, like, ever.”

“Richie? Ben?” Laura called. Richie’s heart dropped as they turned around. Laura was wiping away at tears that were falling down her face. If something happened to her while they’d been talking—

But all of his worries vanished as he saw that she was smiling. And sure, she was crying and wiping some tears away with one hand, but in the other she held—

“Our yarn!” Ben said, his voice cracking as he rushed over. He high-fived Laura, whose smile was contagious. 

Richie ruffled her hair. “Good job, kid!”

“I didn’t do much,” she said, clinging onto the string. “Just leaned back and saw it once I opened my eyes.”

“Bullshit,” Richie said, barely containing the rush of adrenaline that was coursing through his system. “You just did _everything_. You found our way back to them.” 

“Let’s go!” she said, taking a step, but wincing as soon as she did. Richie and Ben winced, too. 

“Hey, kid?” Richie said, meeting Ben’s gaze. “You can totally say no to this, but… how’d you feel if Ben carried you around for a bit? Take some of the pressure off that leg.”

“Only if you want to,” Ben said. “Totally your call.”

Her expression turned into something similar to Ben’s face earlier. Like she was running probabilities on every outcome, trying to find the best-case scenario in a sea of awful endings. 

Finally, she nodded. “It’ll get us back your friends sooner,” she said. “And then… if you don’t think they’d mind… could we find Jen? Together?”

“Of course, kid,” Richie said, as Ben knelt down in front of her. “Wait, Haystack—you doing this piggyback style?”

Ben shrugged. “Figured it was the easiest way for now. Besides, keeps my hands free in case the Minotaur makes another appearance.”

Richie hadn’t eaten anything in a while, but he was sure that if he had food in his stomach, that it would’ve been thrown up as soon as Ben said the Minotaur’s name. 

He still wasn’t sure _why_ the terrifying bull-man hadn’t killed them when he had the chance. But he also never wanted to see him again, just in case it’d been a fluke. 

Richie looked around while Ben stood, carrying Laura on his back. He found a rock, smiling as he held it up to the others. “In case of Minotaur Emergency,” he said. He started to walk, leading the way and holding onto the string as he did so. 

Laura frowned. “I don’t think we need to hurt him.”

“Why’s that?” Ben asked, as they started following the string. He was close enough to the wall that Laura could hold the string in her hands as they moved. 

“When we… when Jen and I first got here, we were with the other kids. And the Minotaur was there, but he wasn’t really doing anything. He moved toward someone else, and Jen…she thought the Minotaur was going in for the kill, so she found a shovel and hit him real hard. She drew blood. But the Minotaur didn’t do anything. He could’ve… he could’ve hurt her. Maybe even… killed her… but he didn’t. And it was just like when we saw him. He had the advantage, and he didn’t use it.”

“So, what’s his angle, then?” Richie asked. 

“I don’t know,” Laura replied. “But maybe he’s not the monster everyone thinks he is.”

They walked along in silence for a while after that. Richie turned her words around in his mind, thinking (which Eddie would’ve said was a bad idea, regardless). Richie had met his fair share of monsters—and it wasn’t just Pennywise. Theseus definitely counted. Bowers and his friends. Anyone who’d made Richie feel smaller than he was. Like he wasn’t human.

Like he didn’t deserve love and happiness. 

And he knew that all of those assholes thrived on fear. On control. Everything they did was in service of making him _believe_ that all of the awful things they said about him were true, even when he knew it was complete bullshit.

It wasn’t so much a problem now. He’d gotten Eddie back. He was comfortable with who he was; he loved the life he had.

But it’d taken him an impossible walk through the Underworld, a shit-ton of therapy, and 42 goddamn years to get there. 

Richie doubted the Minotaur had that many chances to work through the shitty hand he’d been dealt. 

Before they left, Eddie made sure Richie could recite Ariadne’s story in his sleep. After his tirade against Theseus, Eddie spent the rest of the night drilling Richie on all the details.

There were a few different versions of how the Minotaur came to be, and none of them were particularly great. Usually, Ariadne’s mother was tricked, coerced, or assaulted by Zeus, her husband, Minos, or both. Eddie had said that a lot of Greek myths went that way. Richie had almost thrown up when Eddie started to get into what happened to Medusa. 

She had nothing to do with Ariadne and the maze, but by that time Eddie had gotten on another rage-fueled tangent, and Richie wasn’t going to stop him. 

Someone needed to acknowledge how fucked up it all was. 

And Richie knew he wasn’t the first one who’d ever had that realization, but he hated the gods a little more for it, all the same. 

So, when the Minotaur was born, King Minos decided to cast him aside, throwing him into a labyrinth he created. And then, to punish the people of Athens for the murder of his son (or to show them that he had power of them, depending on the source), he asked for tributes. Like it was the fucking _Hunger Games_. 

And the people of Athens obliged, sending their children to die in Minos’s Labyrinth. 

Everyone always assumed it was the Minotaur who killed them. And maybe that’s how it had been, back in the day. 

But what if they’d been wrong all these years? The Minotaur hadn’t done anything monstrous so far. Maybe he never had. 

“Oh, gods, that’s his thinking face,” Eddie said, groaning. “He looks like he’s being tortured over there.”

“Yeah? It’s way better than yours,” Richie shot back. “But your mom makes an even better face when we—”

_Wait_, he thought, cutting himself off. 

_Eddie. Said_.

“Eds?” Richie’s heart nearly burst out of his chest as Eddie Fucking Kaspbrak started running toward him. 

“Yeah, dumbass,” Eddie said, as they collided. He ran his hands through Richie’s hair, pulling him close. “Can’t believe you were actually _thinking_, for once. You sure you’re my boyfriend?”

Richie laughed, kissing Eddie. Any adrenaline left in his system gave way to relief. They’d found each other again. And for a moment, everything else faded away and it was just the two of them. “What do you think?” he asked, after he pulled away. 

“Well,” Eddie replied, “if you weren’t before that kiss, I sure hope you are now.”

“Bev!” Ben called, from a few feet behind Richie. “You okay?” He was still carrying Laura, but she almost jumped off of his back when she caught sight of the girl standing next to Bev. 

“Jen!” Laura yelled, her voice still a bit raspy from crying earlier. 

Ben held onto her, not letting her go until he was standing right in front of Bev and Jen. 

Jen launched herself at Laura, nearly knocking both of them to the ground. 

“Whoa,” Ben said, holding out a steadying hand to make sure they both kept standing. “Let’s go a bit easy on the leg.”

Jen nodded, tears filling her eyes as she held Laura. “I thought I lost you,” she said.

“You almost did,” Laura replied. “I… I don’t think I would’ve made it if they hadn’t found me.” She gestured to Ben and Richie. 

“Are you kidding?” Richie said. “You’re the one who found us. _And>_ saved our asses when you saw the string.”

Jen’s eyes widened. “That worked?”

“Yeah,” Laura said, holding her tighter. “It was brilliant!”

Richie and Eddie exchanged a glance. He didn’t think it was possible for anyone to out-cute the two of them, but these kids definitely gave them a run for their money. 

“Jen Marks,” a chorus of voices called out, from somewhere far away and all too close. “Laura Fremont. It’s time.”

Richie’s eyes widened. “What the fuck is that?”

“Oh, yeah. _That_,” Eddie said, turning Richie around. “We, uh… have an interesting situation here.”

Richie couldn’t help it; he started to dry heave as soon as he saw the Minotaur and the line of twelve kids that surrounded him on either side. 

“Would’ve been nice to have that heads-up there, Eds,” he said, wincing. 

Eddie slid his hand into his. “If it makes you feel any better, up until you got here, they were just standing around watching us.”

Richie wasn’t sure how that was supposed to make him feel better.

“Jen Marks,” the twelve kids all repeated together, “Laura Fremont. Come with us. It’s time to leave.”

Richie looked over at Laura and Jen. Although Laura was a bit steadier on her feet with Jen supporting her, she still didn’t look great. 

Laura met Richie’s gaze. “I trust him,” she said, determination and compassion burning in her eyes. “I don’t think it’s a trap.”

Richie looked over at the line of kids. Aside from the creepy hive-mind thing they had going, none of them seemed hurt. If the Minotaur had been collecting them the whole time, he could’ve killed them. Hell, he could’ve killed Richie, Ben, and Laura earlier, but he hadn’t. 

“We’re running out of time,” the twelve kids said. “He’ll be here, soon. Come with us. Escape. Or stay here and leave your lives up to the Fates.”

Richie squeezed Eddie’s hand. The warning was clear enough: this still wasn’t over. Theseus would find them soon enough, if he wasn’t already watching this happen. 

And maybe that’s why the Minotaur was doing all of this—he was undermining the asshole who killed him. 

Whatever the motive, as long as the kids got out, that was what mattered. 

“Okay,” Richie said. He thought his friends would protest, but he looked over at Eddie, Bev, and Ben, and they’d all done the same math he had. 

Laura and Jen were resourceful. And strong. And so fucking brave. If it was a trick, they’d be able to handle it. And if it wasn’t… well. Laura needed medical attention. And she wasn’t going to get it by sticking around and fighting Theseus.

For all they knew, he wouldn’t have a problem killing kids. They’d faced off against monsters like him before, after all. 

Richie didn’t want to know how far Theseus’s cruelty could go.

“I’ll make sure she’s okay,” Jen said, meeting Eddie’s gaze. 

“I know you will, kid,” Eddie replied, leaning into Richie. 

Laura smiled at Jen, and for a moment, it was bright enough to push away any of the lingering darkness. But then she looked back up at Richie, and it faded away. “Will you be okay?”

“Us?” Richie asked, gesturing to himself and the other Losers. “Oh, yeah. We’re not as mild-mannered as we look.”

“We beat up a clown before we were fourteen,” Eddie added. 

Behind them, Ben coughed. 

Laura and Jen traded confused looks. 

“He deserved it,” Richie said, waving the thought away. “We’ll tell you that story one day. For now, you should probably listen to the bull-man and the Possessed Kid Chorale. You don’t wanna be here when that asshole comes back.”

Jen nodded at Laura, and then helped her over to Richie. 

“Thank you,” Laura said, hugging him. 

“No,” Richie said, leaning down so that only she could hear him. “Thank _you_. And, hey—for what it’s worth, I’ve seen the way she looks at you. You should tell her.”

Laura’s breath caught. “Okay,” she whispered back. 

“I’m proud of you, kid.”

“Don’t die, dumbass.”

Richie laughed, letting go of her and ruffling her hair. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Jen and Laura said their goodbyes to the others, and then stood at the entrance to the middle of the maze. 

“Together?” Laura asked, holding her hand out. 

Jen stared at it for a moment, and then moved in close, sliding her arm around Laura’s waist. “Together,” she replied. 

Eddie wrapped his arm around Richie’s waist. “They’re gonna be okay, Rich.”

“I know,” he said. “Hey, Eds? Do you think they’re cuter than we were?” He looked over at Bev. “We were cuter, right?” 

Bev shrugged. “No comment.”

It didn’t them too long to cross over into the middle of the maze. They all watched as Laura and Jen stood in front of the Minotaur. Jen was saying something, though she was too far away for Richie to understand any of it. 

The Minotaur bent down, and Richie tensed, his thoughts spiraling out into all of the awful endings that involved Laura and Jen being killed in front of them. 

What if they’d made a mistake? Would they be able to make it into the center of the maze before something went wrong?

But Richie didn’t have a long time to worry about that. The Minotaur didn’t strike them. Instead, he handed something to Jen. 

She gave Laura a hug, and then turned and ran back over to them. 

_To Eddie_. 

“Here,” Jen said, smiling as she handed Eddie a shovel. “It doesn’t look like much, but it was enough to hurt the Minotaur. Please send Theseus our regards.”

Richie winced as he got a closer look at it. There were some blood spatters sprinkled on the semi-rusted metal. But he was also pretty impressed: it was a hefty amount. Jen hit the Minotaur real good. 

“Thanks, kid,” Eddie said, taking the shovel. “And Jen? I meant what I said earlier. We’re here if you need anything. We’ll find you after this is over. I promise.”

She smiled, tears welling in her eyes as she threw her arms around both of them. Richie and Eddie wrapped their arms around her, giving her one last hug before she ran back to Laura. 

The Minotaur stared at them from across the maze, giving Richie and his friends a small nod. And then he turned, leading the kids through a hole in the wall. 

Laura and Jen were the last to go through. They paused, turning back to wave at all of them one last time.

And then, they were gone. 

Richie held Eddie closer. “Sooooo,” he said, kissing the top of Eddie’s head. “How was your time in the maze, dear?”

“Fucking peachy, dumbass,” Eddie replied, smiling up at him. “Finally got some peace and quiet ‘cause you weren’t there to talk all the damn time.”

“Awww, you missed me!”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I did.”

Richie looked over at Bev and Ben. “You hear that? Eddie Spaghetti looooooves me—”

Eddie elbowed him in the side, cutting him off. “Beep beep, Richie,” he said, gesturing to the center of the maze. 

Theseus stood where the Minotaur had been, arms outstretched. He was still dressed like a douchey frat bro, but the shade behind him had even more armor on than before, and his sword and shield were up in a fighting stance. “Congratulations, Losers” he said, slow clapping. “It took you a bit longer than I thought, but I’m thrilled to welcome you to your final destination.”

“Whatever, asshole,” Eddie yelled, stepping in front of Richie as he brandished the shovel. “Let’s get this over with.”

Theseus tilted his head, a smug smile on his face. “You’re _so ready_ to fight, Edward. Is that really wise? Think of the children. You wouldn’t want them to hear you die before they made it out of the maze?”

Anger flared in Richie’s chest. “Leave those kids alone!” he shouted. “You fucked them up enough as it is!”

“Maybe so,” Theseus shrugged. “But it was never about the kids, was it? I just needed a convenient excuse to get you where I wanted you. And now, here you are.” He paused, looking at the whole in the maze’s wall. “The Minotaur was a disappointment, of course, but I’ll deal with after I’m through with you. Good help really is hard to find—”

Before he could finish that thought, a sleek black car charged through the maze wall right behind him, running him over. It plowed ahead, charging at them. Richie grabbed Eddie’s arm, pulling him out of the way as the car’s brakes screeched, sending the smell of burnt rubber into the air. It drifted to a stop right in front of Richie and Eddie. 

The rear driver’s side door flew open, and Ariadne jumped out, holding a sword. She wasn’t in her mortal-passing clothes anymore. Instead, she wore leather armor that kind of looked like it could’ve been a costume from _Wonder Woman_—but like, the good, sensible versions of armor from that movie and not the male-gaze-y trash that’d been the Amazons’ outfits in _Justice League_. Her long, dark hair was still braided and woven through with a thick golden thread. A ball of string was tied into one of her belt loops, and a small dagger was sheathed at her side. 

Her shade smiled and waved at them, and then glared at the douchey frat bro who was groaning in the center of the maze. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Ariadne said, smiling at them. “LA traffic was _brutal_.”


	8. I Feel Like I Win When I Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eddie sees red...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the end of Part 2!!! YAY! 
> 
> Thank you for sticking with the story <3 I've got a fun interlude planned that'll go up in the next week or two (once I make more progress on my actual book lol) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the end of Ariadne's adventure (for now). On to the next! 
> 
> Also: I don't know how to un-center the epilogue bits and at this point I'm too afraid to try lol

Eddie couldn’t help but smile even wider at his boyfriend’s expression. It wasn’t often that Richie Trashmouth Tozier was left speechless, but Eddie always liked to cherish the moment, making sure he could store the memory in a place he’d never forget. 

“Whaaaaaaaaat?” Richie was finally able to get out, after a few moments of just standing there with his mouth open, confusion pulling at his features.

“You made it!” Bev said, running over and giving Ariadne a hug before she turned back to Eddie. “We did it!”

“We fucking did it!” Eddie replied, high-fiving her. 

“Did what?” Ben asked. 

The driver’s window rolled down. Hermes winked at them. “I appreciate the offering, but next time can you burn, like, a Twinkie or something? That granola bar was nasty.”

“What’s wrong with my granola bars?” Ben asked, looking about as confused as Richie. 

Hermes shook his head. “There are better flavors out there, son.”

“Sorry,” Bev said, shrugging. “It was all we had.”

“Wasn’t fun for us either,” Eddie added. “It smelled _awful_.”

Hermes nodded. “Not the best offering I’ve ever gotten—but not the worst, either.”

A dog _yipped_ from inside the car. Cerebus jumped onto Hermes’s lap, sticking his front paws out of the window. 

That seemed to be enough to finally snap Richie out of it. His eyes widened as he looked from Cerebus to Ariadne. “You brought our _dog_ into the labyrinth?!?”

Ariadne rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t just leave him in your apartment, could I? And besides, Hermes has already offered to watch him while we finish this.”

Eddie looked at the God of Thieves as he scratched the Pomeranian behind the ears. “You aren’t staying to help?”

Hermes shook his head. “This isn’t my particular mess to sort out. And I’ve already given you a bit of a head start.” He gestured over to Theseus, who still lying on the ground, groaning. “Immortal or not, getting hit by a car definitely slows ya down a bit.”

Cerebus _hmphed_ in agreement. 

Hermes laughed. “You ever need a dog sitter again, you burn some Twinkies and ask me for a favor. Deal?”

“Uhhh, sure.” Eddie said. 

Hermes smiled. “Now we’re talking! And don’t worry, just ‘cause I’m going doesn’t mean I’m leaving you empty handed.” The car’s trunk popped open. “Weapons are in the back. Get the one that speaks to your heart. The wand chooses the wizard, and all that jazz.”

Eddie really wanted to know how deeply Hermes’s knowledge of Harry Potter lore ran. But Richie grabbed his hand, pulling him to the back of the car. 

“Thanks for watching Cerebus!” Richie called as he took a two-pronged spear out of the trunk. “And for whatever the hell this thing is!” He went to go touch the sharp ends, but Eddie slapped his hand away. “Oh, come on, Eds! It’s pointy!” 

“I think the plan is to stab Theseus with it. Not you,” Eddie replied. 

“Fiiiiiiine.”

They moved out of the way as Bev and Ben sorted through the assortment of weapons in the car’s trunk. 

“You good with just a shovel, Eds?” Richie asked. 

Eddie nodded. “It was a gift. It’ll be enough.”

Hermes cleared his throat. “Bring it here.”

Eddie exchanged a glance with Richie, grabbing his hand as he made his way back to the front of the car. His heart was racing so fast, it felt like it might jump out of his chest. He had an idea of what Hermes might do, but he wanted to play it cool and not _completely_ freak out in front of the God of Thieves. 

Eddie’s hand shook as he stuck the shovel’s blade through the driver’s side window. Hermes muttered something that Eddie couldn’t understand, and for a moment, the shovel glowed dark blue. The light faded away and the God of Thieves smiled, handing it back to him.

Eddie’s mouth hung open as he looked at the new shovel. The Minotaur’s blood stains vanished. The shovel’s handle had two snakes weaving around it, and their heads met down at the blade’s end. 

“Thank you,” he said, looking up at Hermes. 

The god nodded his head while Cerebus _yipped_. “Give him hell for me.”

“Don’t you mean give him Hades?” Richie asked. 

Hermes raised an eyebrow. “Why would I want you to give him my uncle?”

The trunk clicked shut, and Ben and Bev moved to stand next to Richie and Eddie. Bev had two daggers that looked a bit like a trident, if the end prongs were way shorter than the middle. And Ben had—

“A bow _and_ a shield?” Richie asked. “Those don’t usually go together, do they, Haystack?”

Ben blushed. “I like archery. And you never know when you’re gonna need a shield.”

“He’s got a point,” Hermes said. “And it looks like your _favorite hero_ is finally picking himself up off the ground. Sooooo it’s time for us to go.”

Cerebus _hmphed_. 

“Hey, Hermes?” Eddie asked, before the god could roll the window up all the way. “Can you make sure the kids are okay out there?”

Hermes winked at him, then hit the gas and charged through a different part of the maze, creating another hole. 

“He couldn’t have just… run him over again?” Richie asked. 

“No,” Ariadne said. “He’s already interfered enough. Zeus will not be pleased with him for this.”

“Zeus might need to rethink his priorities,” Richie huffed. 

“More pressing fish to fry, Rich,” Eddie said, although he wholeheartedly agreed. As far as he was concerned, Zeus could fuck off. He had the power to stop Theseus—to keep Jen, Laura, and the other kids safe—but he didn’t step in. 

And now, they had to clean up his mess. 

“I’m just saying—”

“Beep beep Richie,” Bev said. 

Theseus stood, glaring at all of them. And then he slowly started walking toward them, a huge grin on his face. 

“Ariadne,” Theseus said, “You look lovely, as always.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes. _What a goddamn motherfucker_. 

Ariadne’s grip tightened on her sword. “Theseus. I’m here on behalf of Hades. It’s time to return to where you came from.”

Theseus laughed. “Do you see this?” he asked, gesturing to the maze. “I _made_ this, Ari. And not by hand, like your worthless father. I did it just by _thinking_ about it. Like this.”

Theseus held his hands out, and the earth shook. Eddie tightened his grip on Richie’s hand, and Richie pulled him closer. There was no way they were going to get separated again. 

But instead of opening a giant chasm in the ground, things slowly pushed out of the earth, rising through the dirt. 

They were all Minotaurs—but they were made from the same plants as the maze. And they all had axes that looked, as Hermes might’ve put it, _nasty_. 

“Your brother was disappointing, Ari,” Theseus said. “Though I guess that seems to run in your family, doesn’t it? The Minotaur couldn’t bear to kill the children like he was supposed to and you… _well_. You were never good enough for me to begin with—”

Before he could finish that thought, an arrow flew at his chest, bouncing off of his armor. 

Everyone turned to face Ben, who was furiously blushing. “Sorry,” he said, nocking another arrow. “Just couldn’t listen to that anymore.”

“Let’s kill this fucking clown?” Richie asked. 

Ariadne nodded. “Let’s kill this fucking clown.”

Eddie sat there, lost in a moment of brief, stunned silence (_Ariadne said fuck!_). But then everyone else rushed forward, and Richie was dragging him along, and he snapped out of it just in time to jam the blade of his shovel into one of the Plant-Minotaur’s necks. 

Eddie didn’t want to let go of Richie’s hand, but it wound up happening as Richie pivoted dodge an axe before spearing another one of the Plant-Minotaurs in the chest. They stood together, back-to-back, as more of Theseus’s creatures slowly descended toward them. 

“You know,” Eddie said, taking a deep, steadying breath. “When you said ‘_don’t say I never take you anywhere nice, Eds_,’ I didn’t think the ‘nice place’ would also have plant monsters that wanted to kill us.”

“It’s still a nice place, though,” Richie replied. “For what it’s worth, the tourists probably aren’t much better than these things.”

“Next time we’re just doing the palace tour. No mazes.”

“Deal,” Richie said. And then they started playing whack-a-mole with anything that got near them. Eddie wasn’t quite sure what he was doing, but it was working. He swept one of the Plant-Minotaur’s legs and Richie stuck his two-pronged spear in it, tearing its head off. And then Richie pinned another one against one of the maze’s walls while Eddie used his shovel to split it in half, hamburger-style. 

Bev was slicing her Plant-Minotaurs to bits, and Eddie didn’t want to know how sharp her daggers’ blades were. Ben threw his shield at one, pinning it against another wall. 

“Holy fuck!” Richie said, jumping up and down as he avoided being tackled by another Plant-Minotaur, “You just Captain America’d that motherfucker.”

“Chris Evans _wishes_ he was this good,” Ben said, winking at him before he ran to retrieve his shield. 

“Hey, Bev, when did you husband get so cool?” Richie asked. 

“That’s his secret,” Bev replied, using both of her daggers to behead another Plant-Minotaur. “He’s always been cool.”

Eddie groaned. “Less pop culture, more fighting!”

“We can do both, Eds,” Richie said, throwing his pitchfork so that it speared a Plant-Minotaur that was trying to sneak up on Eddie. “We’re multi-talented like that.”

Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. His friends were ridiculous. And badasses. 

And he was so happy that he was back in their lives. 

He used his shovel to knock another Plant-Minotaur in the head while Ariadne bolted through the action, cutting more of them down in her wake. She left a clear path, and Eddie could see that she was heading straight for Theseus. 

“Hey, Losers!” Eddie yelled, nodding in Ariadne’s direction. “Time to assemble!”

“What happened to _less pop culture, more fighting_?” Richie said, laughing as Eddie pulled him forward. 

“I saw my chance and I took it,” Eddie said, sparing a brief moment to turn and smile at him. “Besides, you can’t be the only multi-talented one in this relationship—”

Richie’s eyes widened, cutting Eddie’s thought short. Before Eddie knew it, he was being thrown to the side, and Richie was standing right where he’d been. 

Only now, Richie had a spear through his chest. 

“Eds?” Richie said, staggering back. 

Eddie didn’t have time to think—he operated purely on instinct. He heard Theseus laughing. And then Bev screamed, and Ariadne cursed, and Ben loosed a few more arrows. But he didn’t care about anything else that was happening—he just had to get to Richie. And it didn’t matter how many Plant-Minotaurs he had to cut down on the way. 

His heart was pounding in his chest, and his hands were shaking, but finally, finally, he made it over to Richie. Eddie grabbed his hand, leading him to one of the maze’s walls while Bev and Ben provided them with some cover. 

“Hey, Eds? Is… is it bad?” Richie asked. 

“It… it could definitely be better,” Eddie replied, cupping Richie’s cheek. “But it’s going to be okay.”

Richie closed his eyes. “I don’t think it is.”

_No, no, no_. 

“Hey, stay with me, Rich,” Eddie said. 

“I want to…” his voice trailed away as he opened his eyes. “I really want to.”

_Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go_.

Bev and Ben ran up to both of them. Bev put a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. 

Tears welled in Eddie’s eyes, slowly falling down his face. “Help Ariadne,” Eddie said. “End this.”

“Go,” Ben said, kissing Bev on the cheek. “I’ll guard these two.”

Bev kissed the top of Eddie’s head, and then she was gone. 

“Eds?” Richie asked as color drained out of his face way too quickly. Eddie’s heart sank. 

This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t supposed to happen. 

“Richie, I swear, if you tell me that you fucked my mom, I’ll—”

“No,” Richie said, laughing. He coughed up a bit of blood when he did it. “I love you.”

Eddie’s hand shook as he wiped away some of his tears. “I love you too, dumbass.”

Richie smiled. “You think they’ll let us do the walk again? Hades might—” And then his head lolled back, and his weight collapsed. He would’ve crashed to the ground if Eddie hadn’t grabbed him and slowly lowered him down. 

Eddie wailed as he tried to get Richie to sit up. Richie’s blood was all over him, and Eddie knew there was some version of him that would’ve absolutely lost it at being covered in that much blood. 

But that wasn’t him anymore. And Richie was still breathing. 

_Oh, shit_. 

Eddie took a deep breath, running a bloody hand through his hair. They needed to get Richie to a hospital, but there was no way they’d do that without killing Theseus. 

He had to something. But what?

All he had was himself, Ben standing guard in front of them, and a shovel blessed by Hermes. 

_A shovel blessed by Hermes! With two fucking snakes on it!_

Eddie fell backward, laughing as he sat on the ground.

Hermes hadn’t put the snakes on there to look cool—he’d turned Eddie’s shovel into _Caduceus_! _The. Motherfucking. Caduceus!_

It was _So. Fucking. On._

“Rich, this is going to hurt a lot. I’m sorry,” Eddie hadn’t even finished his apology when he ripped the spear out of Richie’s chest. Richie groaned a little, which made Eddie wince. It was great that he hadn’t really felt it, but his small reaction meant that he was so close to passing out that the pain hadn’t really registered. 

Caduceus or not, Richie needed help soon. 

Blood gurgled through, and Eddie felt nausea roiling in his stomach, but he pushed it back down. 

Richie wasn’t dying here.

“Hermes!” Eddie yelled waving the shovel around, “How the fuck do I use this thing?”

A dark blue light surrounded the shovel, and it morphed into its true form—a staff with two snakes wrapped around it. 

Eddie sobbed as he placed the staff on Richie’s wound. For a moment, nothing happened, and Eddie’s despair and anger were enough to set the whole world on fire. 

But then the dark blue light was back again, forming around Richie’s wound. Eddie’s eyes widened as Hermes’s Staff of Healing started to work. It closed up, leaving a big scar where he’d been impaled. He’d lost a lot of blood. It was everywhere. 

But he was alive. 

And keeping him that way was the only thing that mattered. 

Eddie squeezed Richie’s hand, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. Relief coursed through his veins as some of the color returned to Richie’s face and he became a little bit more conscious. “We’re gonna get you help soon,” Eddie said. “I promise. But the only way we can do that is if I borrow your pitchfork.”

Richie nodded, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Yer a wizard, Eddie,” he whispered.

Eddie chuckled even though he was still crying. He kissed Richie on the forehead, gave him Caduceus, and took his pitchfork. 

“You’ll watch him?” Eddie asked. 

“Like a hawk,” he said, shooting another Plant-Minotaur. “Go.”

Eddie sprinted into the center of the maze, where Ariadne and Bev were fighting Theseus. 

Theseus threw both of them aside, sending Ariadne and Bev crashing into opposite ends of maze. “Ah, Edward! So nice of you to join. I knew he would push you out of the way,” Theseus said, with a wide smile. “And now the world will know that the Richard Tozier was nothing more than an unexceptional mortal who was slain by a true hero.”

Red filled Eddie’s vision. Theseus had traumatized children, left Ariadne to die, and tried to take everything from him. 

This was going to end. 

Now. 

“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” he screamed, charging at Theseus. 

Eddie forgot that he was holding a big-ass two-pronged spear. Instead, his instincts kicked in, and he drop-kicked Theseus in the face. 

The momentum was enough to knock Theseus’s helmet off. The former hero staggered back, and Bev knelt down and swept his leg. 

Ariadne picked up Theseus’s helmet and hit him in the head with it. Bev used her daggers to cut away at his armor. Eddie kicked it away. “This is for Richie,” he said, screaming as he speared Theseus right through the heart. 

Bev plunged her daggers into his hands, holding him in place. “This is for the kids.”

Ariadne tossed his helmet aside, walking toward him like a wolf stalking its prey. 

“Ari…” Theseus said, struggling to form words. Blood gurgled out of his mouth as he spoke. “I’ll…always…love…you…”

Ariadne knelt down next to him. “This wasn’t love,” she said, stroking his cheek with the blade of his sword. “I was just convenient. And you? You were an asshole.”

She thrust her sword into his neck. “This one’s for me,” she said, withdrawing her sword and bringing it back down on his neck in a wide arc.

She decapitated him in one go. 

Bev and Eddie exchanged a glance. They’d helped Ariadne kill him, but he was always hers to kill, in the end. 

_Good for her_, Eddie thought. 

Theseus’s body faded away. The maze—and the Plant-Minotaurs—went with him. 

They were back at the entrance to the real Hampton Court Palace maze. 

Eddie ran over to Richie. “We did it, Rich! We got him!”

But Richie had lost too much blood. He wasn’t responding. 

_No. No, no, no._

Eddie’s whole body went cold as he felt for a pulse. He choked out a sob. Richie was still breathing. He was still alive. 

He needed help. 

“He’s over here!” Eddie heard Ariadne say. 

Footsteps rushed toward them. Eddie’s eyes were too filled with tears to properly see them, but a gentle hand rested on his shoulder. “You need to let go of him, Eddie.” Bev said. 

“No,” Eddie said, not caring how much the word sounded like a snarl.

“The paramedics are here,” Ben said, putting his hand on Eddie’s other shoulder. “He’s gonna be okay.”

“Please sir,” one of the EMTs said. “We need to bring him to the hospital now. You can ride with him, if you want.”  
Eddie nodded, finally letting go of Richie’s hand. He followed them to the ambulance, wiping tears off of his face as he climbed in. 

“We’ll meet you there,” Ariadne said. “And don’t forget this.” She handed him Caduceus, which had reverted back to being a shovel. 

Eddie held onto Caduceus—and Richie’s hand—as the EMTs closed the door to the ambulance. 

“Do a lot of gardening?” one of the EMTs asked. 

“Something like that,” Eddie replied, blankly. 

They didn’t try to talk to him again.

********

The day after Richie was admitted to the hospital, Jen and Laura stopped by. Laura’s leg was in a cast, and she was on crutches, but Jen was by her side the whole time, diligently opening doors and providing any extra support that Laura might need. 

Ben and Bev excused themselves, saying that they were going to grab something from the hospital’s cafeteria when the girls came in. 

Richie’s mood brightened immensely when he saw them. “Hey, kid! And other kid! You made it!” 

“We did,” Laura said, making her way to his bed and giving him a hug. “And you didn’t die.”

“He tried to,” Eddie said. 

“In all fairness, that one wasn’t my fault,” Richie replied. “And I don’t know if you’ve heard, but good old Eddie Spaghetti here has a magic healing staff now, so I literally can’t die ever! I’m stuck with him!”

“There are fates worse than death,” Eddie said solemnly, even thought he was smiling like an idiot. 

Laura and Jen exchanged a glance. And then Jen laughed, kissing Laura’s cheek. “That’s the most relatable thing I’ve ever heard, Eds,” Jen said.

Richie cackled. “I’ve finally done it! I’ve corrupted the youth!””

Eddie groaned. “Et tu, jen?”

“What? It’s catchy.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Hey,” Richie said, “How’d things go after you left us? What happened to the Minotaur?” Eddie was grateful that he changed the subject—even if he was the reason the subject existed in the first place. 

“I don’t know,” Laura replied. “He led us out of the maze and then just… walked away. Ariadne’s been looking for him.”

Eddie frowned. “If there’s anyone out there who can find him, it’s her.” He still wasn’t sure why the Minotaur helped them, but if Theseus could be celebrated as a hero when he was an absolute asshole, then why couldn’t the Minotaur have been good all along?

It all depended on who told the story. And Eddie was slowly learning that the stories he thought he knew were fucking bullshit. 

“We just wanted to thank you, again, for everything,” Jen said, pulling Eddie away from his thoughts. “Not just getting us through the maze but also…” her voice trailed away as she held Laura’s hand.

Laura smiled at her. “For helping us realize that we were being complete gits when it came to our feelings.”

Eddie moved to Richie’s side, ruffling his hair. “If it makes you feel any better, it took me forty years to figure my own shit out.”

“Forty-two, technically,” Richie pointed out. “Though I’m not sure those last two count.”

“Nah, it was just the forty,” Eddie replied. “I knew I loved you before I died—”

Richie started coughing, trying to cover for Eddie’s slip-up. But it was already too late. 

Jen’s eyes widened. “You _died_?”

“It’s all good, I brought him back to life,” Richie said. “He couldn’t be the only magic one in this relationship.”

Laura looked as if she’d seen a ghost. And, on some level, Eddie supposed she had. “How’d it happen?” she asked. 

“I saved this one’s life,” he gestured at Richie, “And then got impaled by an alien that was, like, a clown and a spider at the same time.”

“It was massive,” Richie said. “Like, bigger than Theseus’s ego.”

“Totally thought I’d killed it before it killed me,” Eddie said. 

“Sorry, did you say ‘alien that was a clown and a spider?’” Jen asked. 

“At the same time,” Richie replied. “Maine is a weird place. Don’t ever go there.”

“That wasn’t even the worst part, though,” Eddie said. 

Richie squinted at him. “You dying wasn’t the worst part?”

“No, it was how everyone else killed It after I died,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes. “They literally just insulted the damn thing and it withered away.”

“Yeah,” Richie replied, frowning, “you’d have thought that us wailing on it when we were thirteen would’ve done the job—”

“What?” Laura asked. 

Eddie shrugged. “Like Richie said, just don’t… don’t ever go to Maine.”

“I don’t think we will…” Jen said. 

“How’re you back now?” Laura asked.

Eddie and Richie exchanged a glance. 

“Well, it all started with a wild night at karaoke,” Richie said. 

“Turns out, Orpheus loves Cher,” Eddie added. 

“And ABBA. We confirmed that one after the fact.”

Jen and Laura laughed. 

And then Richie and Eddie started the story of their trip through the Underworld.

********

They’d just gotten to the part where Ariadne ripped their door off of its hinges when Bev knocked lightly at Richie’s hospital room door.

“Jen’s parents are here,” Bev said. 

Laura and Jen gave Richie and Eddie one last hug, and Eddie wiped away at a few stray tears that’d escaped his eyes. He held Richie’s hand as the kids said their goodbyes to Ben and Bev. 

“They’re gonna be all right, huh?” Richie asked. 

“I think so,” Eddie replied. “And if they’re not—” but Laura and Jen ran back in while he was talking, pulling him into another hug. 

“Thanks again,” Jen said. 

“No, thank you.” Eddie replied. “Especially for the shovel. Wound up saving Richie’s life.”

“If you ever wind up in LA, let us know!” Richie said, cheerily. “Not sure what would bring you all the way out there but hit us up if it happens.”

“And if you come back here for a proper vacation, find us, dumbass,” Laura said, giving him another hug. 

“Will do, kid,” Richie said, ruffling her hair. 

Jen and Laura gave everyone one last hug, and then they waved goodbye as they walked through the door and down the hall. 

Bev and Ben piled inside, sitting at the foot of Richie’s bed. 

“Hey, Bev?” Richie asked.

“Yeah?”

“They’re cuter than us, aren’t they?”

Before she could reply, Ariadne knocked softly at the door. She held Cerebus in the crook of her arm. He _yipped_, wriggling in her grasp until she placed him on Richie’s bed. 

Their dog scurried up to the small space between Eddie and Richie and promptly carved out his own spot. 

“Are we allowed to have Cerebus in here?” Eddie asked. “I feel like we’ve gotta be violating some kind of code, here.”

Ariadne shrugged. “I just donated enough money to give this hospital a whole new wing. I think we can get away with whatever I want.”

Eddie’s mouth dropped open. Bev and Ben also had similar expressions. 

But it was Richie who spoke. “Nooooo way, Scary Lady! Don’t get me wrong, that’s cool and all, buuuuut why’d you do it?”

“They made sure that my friend stayed alive,” she replied, smiling at him. “Even if he still can’t say my name.”

“Nicknames are kind of his thing,” Eddie said. “It means he likes you.”

“Eddie Spaghetti’s right!” Richie said. His smile widened as warmth rushed into Eddie’s cheeks.

_Oh, shit_. He’d just been called Eddie Spaghetti in front of Ariadne. 

Ariadne raised an eyebrow. “Eddie… _Spaghetti_? That’s clever. I’m going to use that.”

Eddie winced. “Please don’t.”

“I’ve arranged for you to stay here for as long as you want,” she continued, as if she hadn’t heard his plea. “When you’re ready to head back to America, let me know and I’ll take care of it for it. But there’s no rush to leave. Take as much time as you need to recover.”

“Are you staying here?” Bev asked. 

Ariadne shook her head. “I need to keep searching for my brother. But this isn’t the last time we’ll see each other. I’m sure of that.”

“Hopefully next time the circumstances won’t involve kidnapping,” Eddie said. 

Ariadne smiled at him. “I believe that the next time we meet, it will indeed be for a happy occasion.” She placed her hand on top of Richie and Eddie’s. “You have my number if you need anything.”

And then she stood, scratching Cerebus behind the ears. “Thank you all, for everything. I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you at the beginning. I truly thought my father… well. It doesn’t matter now. Theseus is back where he belongs, and Hades has promised that he won’t escape again.”

A promise from Hades was good enough for Eddie. They wouldn’t have to worry about Theseus again. 

“We were happy to help,” Ben said. “That shield was super cool, by the way. Where’d you get it?”

Something mischievous glinted behind Ariadne’s eyes. “It’s an old heirloom from back in the day. All of those weapons are safely tucked away, but should you ever need them again, you’ll be able to find them easily enough. With the exception of Caduceus,” Ariadne said, her gaze drifting back to Eddie. “Hermes said that you can keep it. For now.”

Eddie almost passed out on the spot. 

“Are you fucking for real?!?” he asked, not even caring that his voice cracked. “I can keep it?!?”

She nodded. “There’s more than one way to heal. Hermes thinks it will be useful to you, given what’s to come. And I agree.”

“Wait…” Richie said, frowning. “What’s to come?”

“We’re still working to track down everyone that escaped,” she replied. “Theseus was just the beginning, I’m afraid. But you don’t need to worry about that right now. All you need to do is rest.”

She gave Cerebus a few more head scratches, and then she stood. “It was truly an honor to fight alongside all of you. I can see why Hades has so much faith in your abilities.”

Eddie almost lost his footing. The Lord of the Underworld _believed_ in them. 

“Hey, Scary Lady?” Richie asked, before Ariadne was completely through the door.

“Yes?”

“Hope you’re ready for all the dog vids I’m gonna send your way. Cerebus is gonna miss you.”

Cerebus _yipped._

Ariadne smiled. “And I’ll miss him. At least one video a week?”

“Deal!”

“Very well. Goodbye for now, Losers. We’ll find each other again soon enough.”

And with that, she left.

Richie waited a few moments, and then let out a low whistle. “Less intense than last time, but still _very_ intense overall. I’m glad she’s on our side.”

“Me, too,” Eddie said. “Though you didn’t have to bust out _Eddie Spaghetti_ in front of her, asshole.”

“That was just my way of confessing my love for you, Eds. It’s been an emotional past few days.”

“It’s been an emotional _life_,” Eddie said, exhaling loudly. “Now an Immortal is going to start calling me Eddie Spaghetti. I can’t fucking believe you.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Bev said, “I’m sure she’ll only use it on special occasions."

“How’s that supposed to make me feel better?” Eddie asked. 

“Could be worse, _Spagheddie_,” Ben said, smiling. “Man, now I’ve got a craving for Italian food.”

Eddie reached over Richie, grabbing one of the pillows he wasn’t using. And then he chucked it at Ben. “Wow, Bev, you didn’t tell me you married a comedian!”

Bev snorted. “I didn’t. But something tells me you might.”

_“Hey, Ben, can you hand me that pillow?” Eddie asked as he blushed again. _

__

“Sure, bud.”

__

Eddie caught it, then chucked it at Bev.

__

Bev threw it back at him just as quickly. 

__

hey laughed, chatted, and hurled Richie’s pillows at each other for a while. Eddie held onto each moment, making sure to store the memories in a place where he’d never forget. 

__

For the first time since they’d landed in England, he felt like he could breathe. And, even though they were an ocean away from LA, he knew that in that room, surrounded by his friends, he was truly home.

__

__

_*******_

_Eventually, Ben and Bev went back to the hotel for the night. They brought Cerebus along with them, just in case the hospital wound up having a problem with it _after_ Ariadne left._

Eddie was curled up next to Richie on his bed, although Eddie’s legs were falling off of it because they were two grown-ass men trying to fit onto one twin-sized mattress. But any discomfort he was experiencing was worth it, because Richie was snoring next to him.

__

Richie was _alive_ and safe, and Eddie was, too.

__

Eddie never wanted to be separated again, but he knew that, no matter what, they’d always find their way back to each other.

__

Eddie took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he laid his head on Richie’s chest. He smiled as he focused on Richie’s slow and steady breaths, allowing them to lull him to sleep.

__

That night, Eddie dreamt.

__

But it wasn’t of scared kids in mazes, or the Minotaur, or asshole wannabe heroes.

__

It was of the future he could have with Richie.

__

And he knew how to make that dream into a reality.

__


End file.
